First Firebender
by Babyuknowme13
Summary: Sukka is Katara's sarcastic, meat loving big sis. She is also the first firebender ever born in the South Pole. Sukka struggles with uncertainty over her heritage, the gift a mother left behind, and a father she never knew while helping Aang master the elements. If Sukka can master her inner fire maybe she can also prove who she is. Fire Nation scum or Water Tribe warrior Fem!sokka
1. Flash Fire

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 1: Flash Fire.

For the record, being the only fire bender in the entire South Pole sucks on a number of levels. First, and most annoying, of them being unable to sleep through sun rise, it wakes me up every time. So, knowing that sleep would not return until _after_ a few hours spent training or hunting, my sleep addled body dragged itself from the warm furs shared with my little sister and gran-gran. My parka goes on over the thick cotton clothes, followed closely by with furred boots.

Outside the world is dazzling, and I'm certain if I hadn't seen it so often and hadn't been a fire bender, I would've been blinded. As it is the light burns my eyes and I grumble while wiping away the last traces of sleep. The Sun hardly sets at all during the summer here, but summer is drawing to a close. Winter will be on us soon, and with it the three months spent in total darkness that I have always dreaded.

The first thing I do is light the central fire, all it takes is a couple deep breaths and a jab in the right direction. Even that much bending makes me mad though, which sets off the mood perfectly when I leave the village for a secluded hill to train.

First I use the spear I'd made from Polar Bear bones, swinging it to and fro, jabbing it at imaginary enemies who all have the face of the man who killed my mother. I switch to a club, throwing myself into moves mostly made up. Without a real warrior to teach me this is what I'm reduced to, half remembered katas and improvisation.

I go through all the weapons, coming to a halt at my boomerang. This is the only weapon I own that I haven't made. My father made it instead, and gave it to me when I came of age. Typically a girl gets a set of new coats or make up when she comes of age. As there aren't any men left in the village though, as eldest I have to protect my tribe. So I was given a young warrior's gift. This isn't the first time a southern tribe woman had to defend her people. First firebender though.

My boomerang flies in lazy arcs around me. I trade with both my arms to catch and throw on its return. It's the weapon I'm best with. Even my bending can't hold a candle to it. No pun intended of course!

With all my weapons exhausted though, I have to train my bending. It's not something I'm proud of, but I'm practical enough to see it as a useful weapon. I can help those who'd otherwise die of hypothermia, build fires when it isn't winter, and if the Fire Nation ever _thinks_ of coming to our shores again? Well I'm ready to bet all the seal jerky in the world that they'll never expect a _Water Tribe_ firebender.

I honestly hate my bending. Katara doesn't understand, and she'll never understand. All my life I've felt drawn to the same power that took away our mother. How can I possibly feel good about the heritage of a man who's only name I know is Huojin, Fire Metal! He himself told my mother his name after forcing himself on her and fleeing when my _real_ father showed up.

The worst part is I have to _remind_ myself why I don't like it. I could stare into the fire at home for hours and never realize time was passing me by. The sunrise brings me new life that bursts out, my emotions give me the strength to send a fire roaring or douse it until only the embers remain.

The small flame in my mind's eye sparks in my hands. No matter how I tell myself its evil, I can never get over how it somehow feels _alive_ in the palm of my hand. It burns my chi, tickling the ungloved fingertips of my hand as it rises and falls with each breath I take. In for five, hold for two, out for five. A meditative state my father, chief Hakoda, had instilled in me at an early age. When fire responds to your emotions, it can be deadly to panic. Deadly, but not to me.

A swaying arc sends the small flame to blaze away from me. In the corner of my eye I can see my tribesmen leaving their tents to start the day. Katara looks at me, I can recognize her even from this distance, and I read her urge to approach me. She seems to change her mind and starts on her chores. I guess I've finally gotten through to her that I never want her or anyone else anywhere near me when I'm bending.

Too many memories of pained gasps and discolored patches of skin. They never blamed me for not being able to control it, there's no one to teach me how, no one we could ever trust. The best my father could do would be to send me away when they told stories to the other children, so I wouldn't get excited and raise the fires, and try to recreate the moves firebenders had thrown at him over a lifetime.

Quick, circular motions work best when I work with this element. Punches and kicks aimed enemies I can only imagine, flames that appear an inch from my bare skin to move through the air in a long stream. My record is twenty yards before the flames lose power.

Fire envelops my hands, warming them against the arctic chill I barely feel. I'm sweating beneath my parka, and I know I'll have to remove it later or risk overheating. How silly to do something like that, when you live in one of the coldest places on Earth. I stubbornly keep the blue coat on though, struggling to move my arm in the over hand catching motion I use to catch my boomerang, only now it's to send a fireball out over the water's surface, where it crashes and fizzles out.

And at the very end I summon another tiny flame and hold it in the palm of my hand. It pulses in time to my heart beat, fluttering in the arctic breeze. I pant and try to catch my breath, I'm almost breathing fire as I concentrate the flame to just my fingertips. At this it's strong enough to cut and cauterize, I like making it as small as I can. I really do breathe fire now, just tiny puffs that send my temperature soaring. Now I shrug off my jacket and start walking back to the village. I have chores of my own to do.

Dad left when I'm thirteen, too young to go with him, but the oldest of the kids, which means I'm expected to stay and protect everyone else. I wanted to go, prove to myself once and for all that my heritage had no holding over what I could do in the war. We were still getting over Mom dying, and without dad too, the village seemed a lot less happy.

I'm fifteen now, and I get up with the sunrise on a day like any other before it. Winter's coming on soon again, we have to bring in more food if we're going to have enough. We've been pretty lucky this year actually, we've got most of the food we need so we can afford to ease off a bit. Katara and I are going fishing later, but for now I stretch out and start training.

"Hey Sukka, are you ready to go?" And just like that, any concentration I had in making a shield of flame by spinning my arms is broken.

"Katara! You should know better than to get too close when I'm bending!" I scold her, whipping around and pushing down the flames until they smother. She doesn't look in the least repentant.

"You were the one who wanted to go fishing." She smirked.

"Yeah, _after_ we've both had our training finished and chores finished. Are you ready?" I ask cynically. I know fully well she'd only gotten up fifteen minutes ago. Her look says it all.

"Come on Sukka, Gran-gran said we can go early, we're only young once after all!" And what could I say in the face of that irrefutable logic? So we go to the stream where our canoe sat waiting for us. My spear's already inside, when I know I left it in the tent this morning. Katara, once again, refuses to acknowledge that touching my stuff is wrong. I don't touch her stuff, she shouldn't touch mine.

Rowing out into the sea of ice I notice our reflections in the water, especially when we stop and wait for the fish to arrive. Katara's skin is a mocha color that provides a deep contrast to the snow everywhere we see. Her brown hair is held in a braid, with two loops on either side of her face. Its supposedly a style from the northern tribe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in years.

When I sit beside Katara like now, I'm amazed we're related at all. Sometimes, on really bad days, I wonder if they didn't just find me one day. It seems impossible I could be related to anyone in our tribe. Not dad, not mom, not Gran-gran, not Katara, and none of our aunts, uncles or cousins, look anything like me.

My looks are Fire Nation, and are the reason I don't look at my reflection a whole lot. Right now though there isn't much else to do. So I look at my pale as snow skin, my gold as Sunlight eyes, and my black as coal hair. If not for my hair I might someday be lost in the ice.

On my better days, I take joy in the fact that I know several boys in our tribe who expressed interest in me even before I was eleven. They thought my looks were exotic. I wonder how many of those boys, young men now, would still think that if they returned home tomorrow. When they know more about the Fire Nation, will they want to risk that blood for their children? And even beyond my looks, will they risk my bending?

The top of my hair is pulled back into a warrior's wolf tail, the sides hang loose to my shoulders. Two blue beads hang from a lock of my hair on the right side of my face, and this reminds me that I am still Water Tribe. The blue parka, the spear, the boomerang, they all come together and make a picture that feels like family, like community. On my darkest days, I even practice wearing the warrior's war paint.

"Something on your mind?" Katara asks. It was always too much to hope for that she could leave me to my thoughts. I usually went fishing alone, it was my time to stop being the warrior and start being the insecure teenager. Hard to do that when you have a little sister who's always told you that looks don't matter, when you know it's so much more than that it's not even funny.

I don't even dignify that with a response.

"Sukka, I _know_ how you feel, but you have to stop worrying about your looks." I know it's a lie, and by the way Gran-gran sometimes packs me lunches at night so I can go off during the day tells me she knows it too. I can see it in the way the other women stop to watch me "train" their young sons, like they're waiting for something. I can see it in how the kids instinctively shy from fires when they notice I'm not in a good mood.

The only one who hasn't realized it is Katara. On some days, I think she realizes it too. Like now, when I hold up my gloved hand with a tiny flame flickering inside and she trails off from whatever she was going to say. For a minute the air is tense, the silence pregnant with a promise. Will this end in a blow out? Me soaked and freezing and Katara fuming, but never burned. Or will this be one of those days we pass off as the lunar cycle where we continue in the quiet until I say something stupid, and keep talking, until Katara hears what she wants to hear?

"Mom loved you too, you know." And there was one of my biggest insecurities. Around my neck is a blue necklace, with a beautiful carving. It belonged first to Gran-gran, then our mother, and then to me. I've no idea where it came from, only that after we gave her back to the sea dad placed it around my neck. My mother wore it every day of her life, she even slept with it. A gift from family is the most precious thing of all, that's Water Tribe belief.

A gift passed down in the family is worth more than all the seal jerky in the world, but I feel so little attachment to it. I know, it's supposed to be something of mother's to remember her by. I'm supposed to treasure it, be grateful for it. If I'm a little bit bitter too, well that's no one's business but my own.

Like the shifting tides, Katara changes direction. We're back to fishing now, and we get a couple good ones when she decides she wants to get creative about it. So she plays with magic water.

And yes, I know it's not magic, it's bending. But it is magical all the same. Whenever she plays with it, somehow I'm the one who gets wet. Arctic waters? Cold. She's lucky I'm a firebender and thus dry easy. As it is, I'm steaming while she pouts over the edge at the fish that got away. I think I've had just about enough sisterly bonding until winter is over.

That's when we get stuck in the riptide, and swept out to glacier infested sea. I get my paddle and try to direct us away from the floating pieces of freezing death. Firebender or not, if we get wet our parkas and boots will drag us down. Katara may be a water bender, but she's a lot more susceptible to the cold than I am. Five minutes in we won't be able to move at all.

"Go left! Left!" She screams at me. Back seat driving isn't really appreciated. Why doesn't she just _water bend_ us out of the ice?

Our canoe is crushed to splinters and we're stuck on a smelly old iceberg. I growl, I can see the steam coming off my clothes. My temper flares and I want to burn _something._ Immediately I'm ashamed, there's nothing here to burn except my baby sister. The anger turns on myself and I kick the ice, breathing a curse that would've had Gran-gran washing out my mouth with soap.

"You call that left?" And just like that the anger's back off me.

"Well maybe you should've _water bended_ us away from the ice!" I snap, knowing full well that my clenched fists are smoking. I didn't want to go fishing with Katara at all. I knew it would only make me mad. Nothing more annoying than a little sister.

"Maybe _you_ should've _melted_ it!" She counters. Which is good, except that my fires aren't nearly hot enough to melt a whole ice berg, let alone a sea of them, this from personal experience.

"Yeah? And I suppose I also should've caught the canoe and ourselves on fire too? Huh?" I lash out, not at my sister but to the right. The ice berg next to us is a monster in size.

"If you're so sure your bending is nothing but evil, why do you practice with it?" She asks, completely changing the topic. She does that whenever she feels she's losing. She redirects the fight to something she can win, throwing my own words back into my face. There's a crack from the berg that I know she caused but am too angry to pay attention to. Let it never be said I don't know my priorities.

"So that stuff like that _doesn't_ happen!" My voice cracks. I don't yell very often. Yelling is something to do when you're angry, and I try so _hard_ not to get angry. Benders _bend_ when they're angry.

"If I could be normal I'd give anything! I hate being a firebender! I hate being half Fire Nation!" She's already won, she might not think she has, but Katara has won. I hate my heritage, my bending, and myself.

"You say not to worry, that it doesn't matter, but what do you know?" I demand. That's my strategy, always. Attack the threat, burn it with fire, hit whatever isn't you and moving. There's no gentleness, no hint of innocent teasing, only blatant accusations.

"You're perfect, you're a water bender, you look just like mom! The day of your birth, _everyone_ was there!" Not for me. Not for the child they already knew was half the Enemy.

"How could you ever know what it feels like when everything you know, everything anyone has ever told you about your way of life, doesn't _click?"_ A fireball this time, straight at the ice berg. Katara looks mad enough to boil water without a fire.

"Maybe if you talked to us we could help! Have you ever thought of how me and Gran-gran feel when you go off by yourself?" She demands, and like me her arms swing out and the ice berg responds. Pieces chip off, water drips from the heat I threw at it.

"You're my sister, I can't stand that you hate a part of yourself! You act like just because you're a human heater you're _destined_ to be evil! Like everyone should just toss you out of the tribe!" And she's right, for most of it. How can I ever be sure?

"You try to deny that you feel anything but serious, all the time! I've seen how you hold your fire like you expect it leap out and burn everything! When are you going to learn that I don't _care_ if you're a firebender?" She demands. The ice berg nearly comes apart, my temper rises like the noon day sun.

"When I stop _being one!"_ I shout childishly.

"Then maybe you should stop using your bending at all!" She angrily suggests.

"Fine." I bark, hands on my hips. She mirrors the movement almost perfectly.

"Fine!" She bites out.

"**Fine!**" We both shout, and our bending finally makes the ice berg shatter. Large chunks fall down and in a single instant I have my spear stabbed into the ground, one arm holding it and the other holding Katara while I shield her with my own body as our tiny glacier gets swept by the tidal wave.

"Whoa, did _we _do that?" She gasps in awe. I have to admit I'm surprised too.

We share a glance, mostly out of habit after that big fight, and I read her regret in her big blue eyes. I can tell she wants to apologize, to take the words from where they stain the air and freeze them in place, so they can never hurt either of us again.

I let go of her and stand up.

When a second glacier-held down by the first-bobs to the surface, both of us forget we ever said anything. It rotates for a moment, glowing unnaturally in the light. I shiver in a way that has nothing to do with the fact I am once again sopping wet.

"There's someone in there." Katara whispers. I see what she means. A boy sitting cross-legged, with strange markings on his body, glowing. His eyes snap open. "He's alive! We have to help him!" And yeah, there she goes my sister and her Hero Complex.

With my club. Can we please not forget that part? Thank you for your consideration.

"Wait Katara! We don't know what that thing is!" I yell after her, hopping on the stepping blocks to land on the flat part of the new, glow-y glacier.

She hits it three times, and on the third we're both blown back by a sudden gust of stale air. I nearly fall into the water. A light shoots into the sky and my mind automatically goes to flares, the ones used by the Fire Nation.

In the midst of the glow, a boy climbs to the top of the wall of ice. He has an arrow on his head that glows like the light, his eyes stare without seeing anything while it dims. His body goes limp as he falls forward for Katara to catch.

"…Alright I'll bite, he look dead to you?" I quip, poking him with the butt of my spear. Katara smacks me away and leans him against the ice. He can't be more than a couple of years younger than us. He's bald, with a weird tattoo. An arrow on his forehead. His clothes are weird, definitely not water tribe, I think the Fire Nation likes reds and blacks better, and there's not a single hint of green.

Orange, red, and brown is the color scheme. His skin is certainly pale enough for Fire Nation, only a shade darker than mine, but from what Dad said the Earth Kingdom people are usually pretty pale too. Still, there can't be anything normal about this boy. Giant glowing glaciers, beams of light? Maybe I'm asleep and only dreaming this?

He wakes up and I see grey eyes. Like clouds that threaten to bring a blizzard on your doorstep. He doesn't see me, he only has eyes for Katara. Not that she makes it easy for him to look around, she's close enough that I half wonder if she plans to kiss him. And should that course of action be taken I will be forced to intervene and kick this guy off the nearest ice shelf.

"I need to ask you something." His voice sounds gravelly, like he hasn't used it in a while. For a split second I'm worried, the kid looks like he's been put through the wringer.

"What is it?" Katara asks. She has that look she got when she brought home the polar bear dog, back when it was a polar cub puppy, begging us to keep it. She wants to _adopt_ him! Don't we have enough kids back home to worry about?

"Please, come closer." We both move. He sounds serious. I'm half expecting for this to be like one of the stories I would listen to in secret, sitting outside the tent flap in the dead of winter. Like he was going to say his last words and give us some ultimate quest, or a precious treasure, or ancient wisdom.

"Yes?" Katara must have the same idea as me. She sounds breathless, as though she can hardly believe this is happening either.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" And just like that the serious mood is dispelled and I'm trying hard not to trip while standing still. His eyes have lit up with new energy and he bounds to his feet with a grace I've never seen before, like he touches the ground only because that is what he so desires.

"Um…Okay?" Katara blinks. She's probably just as surprised as I am. The kid looks around like he's only just figured out where he is.

"Where am I?" Or maybe he hasn't. Why do I get the feeling this kid isn't the sharpest spear in the village?

"Don't answer that Katara, did you see that crazy light beam?" I interrupt, pulling my sister to her feet. "We don't know if he's connected to the Fire Nation or not." I feel justified in my suspicion when he looks at me as though I've grown a second head.

"The paranoid one is my sister, Sukka. And I'm Katara." My ever optimistic and trusting sister, everybody. I resist the urge to slap my forehead. "We didn't get your name?" Because he never gave it, duh.

"I'm Aaaahhh-!" His entire face spasms and I flinch, bringing the spear up to chest level like I'm waiting for him to spit fire…This coming from the girl who literally _can_ spit fire.

"ACHOOO!" He shoots off into the sky, higher than the ice wall. He hits it on the way down and slides, landing on his feet and wiping his nose. "I'm Aang." Nice to meet you Aang, now if you'll excuse me, I and my sister would like to return to where things make sense.

"You sneezed, and flew ten feet in the air." I point out. I know it sounds obvious, but it was something that needed to be pointed out. I don't know why I thought there had to be a logical explanation.

"You're an airbender!" Yes, this is the obvious conclusion my sister reaches. Everyone knows Airbenders are extinct! They were wiped out a hundred years ago!

"Sure am." His casual tone does nothing to help right my world view.

"Right, an airbender." I roll my eyes and cross my arms. It's not that I don't believe him, it's just that this day feels a lot longer than it logically should be and I would like a return to normalcy, even if it involved stinky laundry and sea prunes.

"Katara, I think I caught Midnight Sun Madness, if you need me I'm going back to where stuff makes sense." I turn around and slump, utterly defeated. The stepping stone glaciers are gone. Dry and frigid land is out of sight. We've drifted out to sea.

"Well if you guys are stuck Appa and I could give you a lift." Aang offers, and I turn around to see who this Appa guy is and how he expects us to get home without a boat.

"Oh no! Appa!" Apparently not even Aang knows where this Appa guy is. He runs up the ice hill while Katara and I are left with the more mundane method of going around to an opening. I stop mid-step and grab my sister, pulling her behind me in one fluid motion.

"What the heck is that?" I demand, shakily pointing at the giant furry beast with my spear. The largest animal I've seen until now has been a whale, and that is a fish. This thing is most definitely not a fish, and is quite a bit bigger than anything I've ever hunted before.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." He answered absently, trying to rouse the slumbering monster. Half of me wanted to push Katara behind the ice wall and then grab the kid before he woke the sleeping beast. Half of me wanted to hide _with_ Katara.

"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister." I snarl quietly, well and truly irritated now. Did I eat sea prunes before bed or something?

"So do you guys want a ride?" He asked again, climbing on top of the thing's head. Actually it has an arrow marking on its forehead too, just like Aang. Or Aang is just like it, whichever.

"We'd love to!" Katara bursts out before I can point out how dangerous this is. Uh, hello? Strange guy comes around and is offering a ride to two teenage girls. Does this not strike you as a bad thing?

"Come on Sukka!" She urged me from the saddle of the thing. I really don't want to get on it, but I have to at least be there to protect my naïve little sister, so I step forward.

And the thing _sneezes_ on me.

For a minute, stunned silence. "That's it, I'm not getting on that _fluffy snot-monster!"_ I scream, rubbing as much of the green goo off as I can. I will never be able to wear this parka again. I will have to _burn_ it and the memory of this day as soon as I get home.

"Oh come on Sukka, are you hoping some _other_ big monster will come and give you a ride home? Even _you_ will freeze to death." Unfortunately she's right. I can't just keep doing my breath of fire all day, I'll exhaust myself. I have no food, no transportation, and am covered in green snot. No better plan presenting itself, I climb on board and resolve to sulk for the entire ride.

"Alright, first time fliers hold on tight!" Aang laughs, whipping the reins. "Yip yip!" Is that even a word?

The monster responds, groaning lowly in the back of its throat as I pushes off the ice and hovers in the air. For a single, insane second, I truly believe we're flying. And then dear old Gravity, someone I've never fully seen eye to eye since hitting puberty, decided to interrupt and we crashed down.

Miraculously, Aang and Katara were perfectly dry. I, however, was just another casualty of war.

Appa didn't make good time. We just sort of drifted. The Sun wouldn't start setting again for a month at least, which left me stretched out beyond belief. It sucks to be a firebender in the South Pole. It's only in early spring and late fall that we get anything resembling a normal schedule to the rest of the world. The rest of the time I struggle with going on too little sleep or being unable to fully wake up. The two extremes are going to make me age before my time.

But it's safer in the South Pole. There's so much water and ice around, it's impossible to badly burn anything. If I ever did leave, as I dream of doing, what if I got scared? The fire would leap to my defense, and hang those in the way. I could hurt people. Good people.

If I ever did leave, I'd probably go to the Fire Nation. If for no other reason than so that when I blew my top, it would be people who deserved it bearing the heat of my hate.


	2. Arsonist

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 2: Arsonist.

I notice Katara crawl over to talk to Aang, leaving me sitting against some soft bedrolls at the back of the saddle. Neither of us has apologized for the fight, but I know I should soon. It was my fault, I shouldn't be so inconsiderate. I mean, I'll still go off alone as often as possible, but I'll try inviting Katara on more fishing trips or something.

Then again, considering what happened today maybe that's not such a hot idea.

She comes back looking disappointed. She's met an airbender today, and his pet fluffy snot monster. Why is she upset?

"Something wrong?" I murmur, keeping my voice low so Aang won't over hear. The kid seems wiped out though, from the way he's nodding he'll probably be out in a minute.

"I asked Aang if he knew what happened to the last Avatar. He was supposed to be an Air Nomad." Katara _believes_ in things. The ocean and moon are almighty spirits, our ancestors are watching over us, and the Avatar will return and save the world. I have a harder time believing in those things. Maybe because I know firebenders look more to the sun than the ocean or moon, because half my ancestors are firebenders and they're obviously the dominate half of the family because of my bending, because the Avatar disappeared a hundred years ago.

And if you do the math, and Gran-gran made sure we could do the math, on the day of the first attacks the new avatar would've been _twelve._ The entire Fire Nation, destroying an entire race of people to get at one kid, who according to the stories probably hadn't even _known_ he was the Avatar yet. That's slightly horrifying when you think about it. How many of those Air Nomads knew who the new Avatar was? How many of the children were pulled out and slaughtered?

How many of my ancestors participated in that slaughter?

Katara fell asleep soon, and when I noticed Aang was leaning to the side I carefully picked him up and put him in the saddle to let him sleep. The giant bison lowed when I took his seat on his head.

"Shush you, you'll wake them up." I mutter at him, putting a finger to my lips. He huffs and continues to glide on the water, drawing closer to land. I recognize the looming cliff of Wolf's Head, behind it lies a bad memory for our tribe. To the east of that are some small icy crags that hide us from sight except for a certain angle. I can't see the village from this angle, but I could sail these waters in my sleep. A necessary skill for winter, when I constantly feel like I'm about to collapse and can't even bend a flare.

People gather when we finally arrive, Appa treads carefully over ice that I feel by rights should've shattered under his girth. The women are frightened until I wave to them. I stop Appa near our tent and carefully pick up my sister, using the bison's tail as a ramp.

"Sukka?" My Gran-gran comes up to me while I lay her down.

"You wouldn't believe the day I've had." I smirk. I squash down the hysterical giggles that want to escape. She covers up Katara while I go get our nomad friend and bring him in too. I make double sure to cover him up in our thickest furs. I don't understand how he's not frozen in those thin clothes he's wearing. I know he's not a firebender like me, and even I need a parka most of the time.

"Hey big guy, I hope you like sea weed." I croon to the bison, leading him to the outer walls protecting my small tribe. The sea weed comes up with the catch and we use it in sea prune stew and in emergencies, like if we somehow run out of food in winter. Appa eats some and seems to decide he can suffer through the huge mound, though he looks so put out that I want to rub his belly in apology.

"Who was that boy Sukka? And what sort of creature is that?" The women crowd me now. Its late, most of the kids are in bed already. You wouldn't know it from the sun though, it beats down like its noon.

"The boy's name is Aang, you can all meet him once he wakes up. Katara found him when she water bended a glacier." I stand facing the fire while I tell the story, watching it flare contrary to any breeze. I'm selfishly glad they don't notice. These are my cousins, my aunts, but I don't want them to see how little control I have over my bending.

"That is a bison, his name is Appa and he belongs to Aang." I carefully leave out the bison's supposed ability to fly.

"Today seems to have been very eventful." Gran-gran finally sighs. She's the oldest person in the entire tribe. Most of the other women are young, newlyweds when their men went off to war. She came from the North Pole, and brought knowledge of healing we didn't need benders for, along with new stories to tell around the fire. Not that I was usually around said stories, at least not where people could see me.

"Somewhat." I agree wryly.

"Do you think he's dangerous?" One of the women, Nomka, worries. She holds her baby close to heart, her eyes are distant as she gazes out at sea. What color sails does she think she'll see? The reds of the men who killed her son? Or the blues that hopefully signal her husband's safe return?

"I don't know." I say honestly. I know it isn't what they want to hear. They want to hear that no, such a young boy can't possibly bring another raid on our heads. In fact he's from one of the less prominent southern villages and he's here to stay and train as a warrior to defend us! "But I'll keep an eye on him."

They trust me to protect them. I can see it in the way their shoulders slump and relieved smiles flit across their faces. As sad as it is, we believe in the power of the Fire Nation to destroy its enemies. And as far as their concerned, they have a Fire Nation firebender right here, loyal to them. I will protect them against any who sail to our shores. This is the home of my grandmother, my father, my sister, my aunts and cousins and uncles at war. This is where we returned my mother to the sea.

Every time the Fire Nation has struck here they've stolen something. People usually, but they take anything they think has any value. Old family heirlooms, pottery, clothes, and the food so important to our survival. The last time they came, six men died, two women were violated, and my mother was murdered. And that was to find one little girl.

"There's nothing to be done now. We should all get some rest." I reason with them. It takes a while to calm them, but I'm practiced. "I'll stand watch, just in case. Go on, Sonquen will cry if he wakes up alone. Don't worry, I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all the sea weed." Slowly they trickle to their tents, leaving Gran-gran and me to look over the sea. I know what we're both afraid we'll find. Black snow, and a long trail of smoke as it turns towards us.

"The story was told very well, but there's more than what you say, isn't there?" Someday I want to be just like her when I grow up. Can _all_ old people tell when you're hiding something?

"He's an airbender, Gran-gran." I tell her. I don't even have to look at her to know what sort of face she's making. _Ha, funny. Yank the other one, its got bells on it!_

I look anyway, and yeah. That is the face she uses when she thinks little old me is trying to pull a fast one. I don't know what she thinks is in it for me to make something like this up. This isn't like the time I got two fish hooks in my thumb.

"No, I'm being serious." I say in response to her silent look. She thinks on that for a minute and then looks pointedly at the Sun's position. _Do I need to wrap you up in warm furs and let you stare at the fire until you feel better?_

Which, okay, is totally uncalled for. I have _not_ gone completely insane. Does she not see the giant bison eating our sea weed? The weird boy I bundled in furs?

"If you can make the bison vanish and the boy's tattoos to fade I will gladly drink all the cod-liver oil you want me to." I say with the utmost sincerity. She concedes the point and we silently agree to wait until Aang wakes up before she tries wrapping me up.

She leaves me too and I climb up to my poor watchtower. There's no black snow falling, no trail of smoke approaching, but I settle myself into my perch to keep watch. There won't be any sleep for me tonight. Tomorrow the women will take turns climbing up here but for now they're happy to leave this job to me. To the warrior who has just as much reason to hate the Fire Nation as anyone else.

The transfer from night to day was seamless. A few times I forced myself to go check on Katara and Gran-gran, and the airbender named Aang. I made sure Appa didn't eat the entire sea weed; he passed out not too long after. Sleep heavy eyes dragged me down until I could've fallen asleep in the snow. I knew the dangers of that though, and lit the central fire when I felt that it was nearly the approximation of dawn.

The village roused to life soon after and I gratefully allowed the first woman to climb up and take a long look around while I stretched. I stepped down from the wall and was assaulted by the boys of the village, the oldest was seven.

"We want to practice fighting firebenders! Show us!" They begged. They had the dulled clubs I used when teaching them how to grip weapons. I chuckled and led them away from the tents, but still in the village.

"I'm not going to burn you." I tell them, like I do every time the urge to train takes them. The more nervous boys calm some and the bigger ones whine but I hold fast to my terms. I don't bend when we play or train or whatever they want to call it today.

I show them how to hold the weapons and they come at me. I dance over the snow, knocking them into snow drifts and placing light taps when I notice them not paying attention. By breakfast time they're happy for the rest and I take a steamed fish and leave the village for my own practice.

"Wow, you're a firebender? Why are you in the South Pole?" I hadn't noticed him coming up behind me. My bending flares and I quickly call it back around me. _Don't go, don't burn, pleasepleaseplease!_ The fire listens, and dies.

"You little idiot, do you know how dangerous that could've been if I lost control! I might have hurt you!" I snap at the little airhead. He looks suitably intimidated that I feel a little bad. Like I kicked a polar cub puppy.

"Um, sorry? Katara introduced me to the village and I saw you and was wondering what a firebender was doing here, there's so much snow and all, I didn't really think that I might've scared you but I was really curious." That is all the proof I needed that he is an airbender. How else could he hold so much air in his lungs?

"I was born here." I inform him, more than a little upset. If he's a spy then the Fire Nation will know I'm here before long.

"Huh, really? Katara's a water bender though, how'd you end up fire bending?" He asked. He can't really be that innocent, can he? My mother would never have married someone from the Fire Nation.

"Gee, how do you think? What do you want anyway?" I snap. My temper is rubbed thin from lack of sleep. I make a mental note to ask Gran-gran for some of her special tea after everything is sorted out.

"Katara said I had to tell you we were going penguin-sledding before we left or you'd freak out." He said honestly, shrugging his shoulders as though he can't _possibly_ understand why anyone would worry about their baby sister being alone with a stranger.

I _could_ forbid her from going, except that Katara already said she'd go when Aang first asked, and I think it's very important to keep your word. And I'm not fooling anyone, am I? We all know I just didn't want another blow out so soon after the last one. So I watch Aang and Katara head towards Wolf's Head, where the best slopes are.

Training finished, I decided to go check on everyone else in the village. I'd see if anyone needed anything done-watch the baby, stoke the flames, keep small children out from under foot, make sure small children didn't walk on thin ice-and if I was lucky I might get in a nap before Katara and Aang got back.

"Sukka, that boy really is an airbender." Which is the closest Gran-gran can come to an apology. I refrain from giving her my _I told you so_ face merely on the grounds that she is my Gran-gran, and thus has _take away my sleeping tea_ privileges.

"Yeah, how'd he tell you? Katara sort of figured it out when he sneezed and flew ten feet in the air." I inform her, shortening my stride so old bones can keep up as we round the village walls. They need reinforcing, Katara's been slacking off again. She _wants_ to be a bender so why doesn't she help build our walls? All she wants to do is _fight!_ I'd give just about _anything_ to be able to create with fire!

"That staff he carries is a glider of some kind. How did you miss seeing him fly around and over the village into the watchtower?" She questioned me. Which made me draw up short and turn to look at my poor tower. And yep, totally destroyed. Aw man!

"I was bending and I haven't slept in what amounts to two days?" I shrug. I'm angry, I want to burn something, but I know that if I do I'll only get _more_ tired.

"Do you want me to brew some tea?" She asked, eyeing me up and down. Judging whether I can take being awake for much longer. I've gone three days without sleep before passing out, but any further than that and my control frays completely. I really _might_ get midnight sun madness.

"Not until Katara gets back." I tell her, looking out beyond the wall. At first my brain can't process what it's being confronted with.

_Look again._ My brain says.

_We're looking._ Say my eyes. _It's really there._

A fire navy flare, in the direction of Wolf's Head. The abandoned ship, left there by some of the last southern benders. Someone had just signaled the fire navy. _Katara!_

No, not Katara. _Aang._

By the time they've made it back to the village, everyone's waiting. Essentials have been packed, food hidden in a tunnel beneath the village, children bundled up and one woman posted on the wall overlooking the sea at all times. I can tell just from the way she's walking that she knows what she did was wrong, and regrets it. That resigned slump in her shoulders, the way her toes scuff the snow because she's not lifting them free of the tiny drifts. But while she might regret setting off the flare, even from here I can tell she's pumping herself for another blow out, ready to argue that _oh, it's not _her_ fault _or Aang's! _The ship was just_ there_ and we wanted to look inside! We didn't _mean_ to!_

"Katara, get away from him." I'm in no mood to negotiate. And maybe she sees that on my face. She blanches, glances at the airbender, but she doesn't move away from him.

"Listen Sukka, there was this big ship with a booby trap and-! Well," Aang starts and tapers off. "We boobied right into it." I _so_ did not need to hear that.

"Sukka, _listen!_ Aang isn't our enemy!" I don't really know what it is about her. I thought earth benders were the stubborn ones, as unmoving as the Earth itself. But if Katara gets stuck on a point, she's like a polar bear dog with a bone. "If you'd just-!"

"No Katara!" She breaks off when I half raise my voice. It's sharp, and clear, and I shudder because for an instant my voice brings up memories of a woman wreathed in ice who smiled at one daughter but never seemed to know what to do with the other.

"You went on the ship." She doesn't deny it. "You knew it was wrong, but you did it. How could that be justified?" I ask, because I want to know. Did she forget her brain when she went penguin-sledding?

"A bender has to conquer fear!" She says passionately, and yeah, this is turning into a blow out.

"A bender has to use their _head!_ You set off a flare! Do you _want_ to bring another raid on our heads!?" _Screaming and fires and there was something I could _do_ but I was so _afraid!_ What would they do if they knew a little firebender was there? And Mom, no please don't touch her! Not my mom!_

"How can you say that? Of course not! It was an accident!" She protests, but I see the hurt. "And haven't you seen what he's done for us in such a short amount of time? If you hadn't been acting _oh so serious_ you would've seen he's brought something we haven't had in a long time!" I wait for the punch line. "Fun!"

"You can't fight the Fire Nation with _fun!_ You can't defend the people you love with _games!"_ It's strangely like being locked behind ice. She sees me pounding away but she refuses to listen. Like a game when you're a kid, _lalalalalala_ _I can't hear you!_ What can I do? What I should've done.

"I'm going to do what father trusted me to do, I'm banishing Aang from this village." The kids are shocked, they've never seen a banishing, but the women are like frigid ice behind me. It's hard, it's cruel, he's just a kid. It still doesn't matter.

"Then I'm banished too!" Okay, _now_ they're shocked. "Come on Aang." She grabs the stunned airbender and they start walking to Appa, who looks at them with a vaguely disgruntled expression.

"Where do you think _you're_ going?" I demand, taking half a step forward. She couldn't really be thinking about _leaving_ could she?

"To the North Pole, Aang's taking me to get a waterbending master." She says harshly, voice thick with tears she hasn't shed. It takes a lot to make Katara cry.

"I am? Great!" That stupid little air bender's been nothing but trouble!

"Katara, you would really leave behind your family, your tribe, for a kid you've known for less than a day?" I ask. _Betrayal_ and _how could you_ warring with _please, no_ and _I need you to be there for me when I hate myself._

"…Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." Aang says softly, putting one ungloved hand on her parka shoulder.

"But Aang, what will you do?" She asks helplessly as he climbs on top of his giant monster.

"I guess I'll go back to the Southern Air temple." He gets a strange look on his face and visibly deflates. "Oh man, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years! Not looking forward to that!" Wait, a hundred years? Someone tell me he was exaggerating or that I've just gone longer without sleep than I thought and am hearing things. Please?

The kids are upset, they liked him. The women draw them away with promises of seal jerky (miracle that it is) and games of warrior. Katara doesn't say anything until it's just me and Gran-gran. She stands where Aang left her, lumbering off on Appa, clenching and unclenching her fists in a way that on me would have smoke drifting into the air.

"Are you happy now? There goes my one chance of being a real bender!" She snaps, turning around and marching into the village to help with the preparations.

"Sukka." She doesn't add anything. I take a deep breath, feel chi move into my lungs and my heart and into my blood. I let it out, slowly over a count of five.

"We'll need to be ready, I'm going to our tent." I guess today is one of my darkest days.

You can't tell I'm Fire Nation when I have the ceremonial wolf paint on. The greys and whites mask all but my golden eyes, and black hair's not _totally_ uncommon. I look scary in this paint. Scary in the same way those skull masks are in the Fire Nation. They make you look less human, more monster. Makes it easier to hate you.

A thick fog sweeps in and I can't even see the nearest crags from the wall. This doesn't make me feel better. It won't snow, and I can't see any smoke trails. How will I know they're coming before they're on top of us? I swing my scimitar absently and try to remember what the fastest routes to the snow caves where we could take shelter if everything burns.

When the ship's looming shadow suddenly appears it takes a force of will I didn't know I had not to turn around and run as fast as I can in the other direction.

The ice doesn't stop them, they just plow right through them. I curse and watch as huge cracks go through the ice, reaching us and tearing everything apart. The women shout at their children to come to them and I notice Katara saving one kid from falling into the chasm created by the crack. I'm thrown back, carried on a small avalanche of snow as our little wall is destroyed without a single fireball.

The entire front of the ship fell forward to create a ramp, stopping just shy of taking off all my toes. Down came five men, hardly a full raiding force, but we were hardly a difficult target. Please let Katara keep things under control, please don't let her bend on accident. Please let them not know about my sister.

And if they do, _Tui and La_ if you really exist help me to _destroy_ them.

"What is your business here?" I demand, standing between my tribe and the threat. The man in the middle-actually he's probably around my age-wears gold on his armor. He's flanked by four men in full body armor. They expect trouble, as well they should. I intend to give it to them.

"I have reason to believe you're harboring a dangerous fugitive." If I was, I'd probably help the poor bastard hide. "Where is he?"

"Who?" I ask. I could keep an eye out for the guy after they leave. At the very least I might offer up a quick prayer to the spirits.

"Don't play dumb with me, I _know_ you're hiding him." He growls. I fit into my stance and finger my weapons. At this range my boomerang is my best bet. Take out the guy in charge first, get in close in the confusion and start taking down the flunkies.

"Him? In case you haven't noticed, we don't _have_ any men." I inform him, sweeping one hand to encompass the whole tribe. They've all gathered together, holding kids close and shrinking away from the red and black and eyeing the exit as if trying to calculate how long it would take for the children to run with their mothers shielding them.

"Enough games!" He roars, getting in close _fast._ In a minute he's up in my face and for a minute I'm afraid. What if he notices my eyes? He's too mad though, and I launch an attack, slamming against his chest to give me some space.

"I agree, let's get serious." I state. We start circling each other and I'm a bit nervous when his men are behind me, but they don't twitch. They're going to let their commander fight first. Like back when the southern tribes warred against _each other_, let the chiefs fight first to see who the spirits favored.

The fire looks different when it's aimed _at_ me. Far more threatening. I slash with my scimitar, breaking through the fireball and charging forward. My boomerang flies but he dodges, that's okay, it'll get him on the return trip. He's on me with more blasts before I can plan that out though, and I start getting _angry._

Sweat drips from my brows and I'm so glad that I changed into warrior clothes. I'd be overheating in my parka by now with all the fire flying around. A glint off the surface of my boomerang makes me smirk and I can tell just from looking at him he's _ticked_ by my supposed cockiness.

The _ding_ of metal on helmet echoes and the kids start cheering at my blow.

His growl this time is much more feral. He slashes his hand wide and despite the temperature my blood freezes. Most of the fire goes wide and starts closing in on the kids. My feet hit slush and I slide, using my knife buried to the hilt in ice to stop in front of my tribe a second before the fire is on us.

This form is one I haven't had much chance to practice. My arms come out, hands together in a prayer as the fire hits. Heat around my fingertips to stop me from burning from the enemy's fire as my hands sweep apart, diverting the flow of flames to either side and at my feet. The fire sizzles out and melts snow into slush.

"A firebender!" His men gasp. I wipe some paint from around my mouth. The sweat is making it run, unfortunately.

"Your powers of observation are _outstanding."_ I say dryly.

"What's a firebender doing defending the South Pole?" Mister scar demands, looking shocked and ticked all at the same time. At least he's not aiming super-heated death at my tribe now.

"I _live_ here, _you're_ the intruder." I snap. My arm is encircled with flames as I throw them at my targets, my legs move of their own accord up and around for a kick that sends more flames jetting their way. "Get _out_ of my village!"

"I am Prince Zuko, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, you will show me your respect!" He shouts, blocking my attacks and sending some of his own forward. The ground beneath my feet is treacherous now, I nearly lose my footing a hundred times in a single shift in weight.

"Better idea, I am Sukka, daughter of Kya and chief Hakoda, and _you_ can just run back to your ship with your tail between your legs!" I mock him. "We don't want your kind here!"

"Your kind too." He says faintly. I grind my teeth together and feel my own growl rip its way out of my throat. I don't even have to look to know the central fire is suddenly a lot higher than it should be. I curse myself when he smirks, knowing he's gotten the reaction he wanted.

It's too late though, because my temper's gotten the best of me. My blows go wide, not towards my tribe _never_ towards my tribe, and I manage to block all the ones that come too close to them, but the tides have turned again.

I am _decidedly_ unused to being burned.

He pins me down with my face in slush, having to pant through the corner of my mouth for air. One hand holds my right arm behind my back, the other grips my wolf tail, lifting me up so I can see the frightened face of my baby sister. She wants to bend, I can almost _see_ the effort it's taking not for her to clench her fingers and bring down all the ocean's wrath on these men.

"Where. Is. The Avatar?" And for the longest minute I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing, there was silence. It stretched itself thin with confusion and mouthed words that would only take a second breath to become whispers. Once they became whispers there would be _ice._

"…You've invaded our village because you think we're hiding a _legend?_" Which, yeah if we actually _were_ even I would think that's a pretty damn good if stupid reason to invade us. But the avatar disappeared a hundred years ago. What? Does he think an old guy in airbender threads is going to waddle out of the main igloo?

_Maybe not an old man._ I pinned that thought down without mercy. It was dangerous, and if I was right? _Then I'm doubly glad I sent Aang away._

"I _saw_ him on that shipwreck. I _know_ he's here." Note to self, kill Katara later. You know, if you survive and all.

One minute he's pinning me down, the next he's knocked off and I'm swept off my feet by a whirlwind until I tumble to a stop. I fall to shaking knees in front of my tribe and look up to see Aang, bringing his _hundred and twelve_ years to bear as he stands with his staff before the Fire Nation prince.

"Looking for me?"


	3. Crown Fire

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 3: Crown Fire.

"You? You're the Avatar?" Aang and the prince did the same circling that the prince and I had done. "I've spent the past two years training, you're just a _child_!" But the age wasn't going to stop him, was it? Damn Fire Nation.

"Well you're just a teenager." I could've burst out in giggles. Aang's got some sense of humor doesn't he?

The fight was short, but anything but sweet. Aang was a lot less adept at making sure the fire never got close to us than me. In a moment I was back on my feet claiming his fires and sending them back at him. Apparently that incited his flunkies to get involved.

"Four on one's hardly fair." I muttered bitterly, swirling in place to redirect their flames and send them out again. It's more water style to take your opponent's force to use against them, but this wasted a lot less energy and I had always known I'd be outnumbered in a raid.

Thanks to my training, I wasn't losing. I just wasn't _winning_ either. And this was just four guys. They had a whole ship there, and I could see people leaning over the rails. We needed a miracle but there was hardly time for praying.

And I already had the Avatar on my side. It wasn't the spirits' fault I was too incompetent to use what they gave me.

"That's enough!" Aang declared after he did some twirly trick with his staff that made the fire go _everywhere_ the little idiot. If he's the Avatar doesn't he know how to block fire? "If I go with you will you leave these people alone?" He'd do that for us?

Zuko eyed him for a moment, trying to judge the truth of his words, before straightening and nodding just once. "The rogue firebender comes too." And forget what I said about overheating, right then I felt as cold as ice.

Aang turned his little tattooed head to me, chewing his lips and worry. Behind me I could hear Katara's horrified gasp and my Gran-gran's aborted move to defend me. The women turned the kids away, towards the hiding tunnels. They waited breathless for my answer. I knew if I called up my fire again they would stand by me. Forget being half the Enemy, forget the early years of flaring fires and harsh burns, forget my _exotic_ appearance. It filled me with _so much_ pride, knowing that when the chips came down, I was _Water Tribe!_

And we don't let outsiders take our people without a fight. Never mind that most of them had never been in a fight before, never so much as lifted a spear except to move it away from grasping toddlers. These women, my aunts, my _sisters_ would fight beside me.

"Agreed." And the ice broke into shards, no longer whole as I lowered my arms and left my stance. Head held high as two firebenders took my arms and marched me up the deck, behind the two firebenders who restrained Aang.

I got one last look at the home of my childhood as the front of the ship came up again. Katara's face, tears trying to work free. Gran-gran's sound of loss, another loved one taken from her in a life of pain. The women of the tribe falling to their knees, some in prayer, some to hold their children and be thankful, they'd been spared. I held my head high, and closed my eyes in quiet surrender. I am a chieftain's daughter, I will go with dignity.

"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." The prince, Zuko, held it out to inspect the artifact. Darn, a hundred years old and you couldn't tell.

"But I guess you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks." Wait, air nomads don't get fathers? What about their mothers?

"Sorry Sukka." Aang whispered as he passed me on his way to the brig. I steeled my spine and tried for a reassuring smile.

"Would've happened sooner or later." I shrugged. They had bound my hands with steel cuffs. Rope like Aang's I could've burned and that was the point.

"A shame to have Fire Nation features covered by tribal war paint, don't you agree Prince Zuko?" The old, slightly round, man said once they were all seated in some kind of war room. It had maps and a table in it at least, lamps, but not much else.

"Lieutenant," A grey haired man seized me by the arms at the prince's, Zuko's, voice. He pulled me over to a balcony where a rain barrel stood. He hesitated for a moment before dunking a towel in the water and bringing it to my face. Briefly I considered biting him.

The towel came away covered in paint and I caught a glimpse of my reflection. Frigid air made my face feel like ice, and look it too. He pulled me back inside, which I was grudgingly grateful for. I'd been getting cold and somehow these guys might not take my breath of fire very well.

"Much improved, you are a very beautiful young lady." The old man complimented. Okay, _exotic_ I can handle, even _pretty_ when one of the boys had once written a poem in the snow for me. I hardly felt _beautiful._

"Tell us how you came to be in the South Pole." Zuko demanded. No way was I going to call him _prince_ now that I knew his name. He didn't deserve such a title from me.

"Well, about fifteen or so years ago my mother went to pick some winter berries," I started, smirking in amusement as he seemed to falter slightly. Ha, did he expect me to tell him some great romance of two star crossed lovers?

"If you would be serious, my dear?" The old man sighed. His smile had left, leaving a serious expression as though he'd already figured out all he needed to know, and just wanted me to _say_ it.

"A southern raider raped my mother, the men of my tribe found her before he could finish the job. Nine months later I was welcomed into this world by breathing flames." Apparently I'd had the hiccups. With every little hitch in my breath a tiny tongue of flame would pop out. I can't imagine what she must have felt.

"Ah, I see." The old man sighed. Even Zuko seemed a little put off by it. I wanted to bring a hand up to brush the necklace around my neck but my arms were bound behind my back. I bent my head and breathed, in for a count of five, hold for two, and breathe out for five.

"Someone taught you." I looked up at golden eyes, the left forever seared into an angry glare. I have a couple burn scars, small ones, on my leg from being an excitable child. But they were small, and faded. His was angry and red enough to make me wonder if he'd gotten it _very_ recently. It looked like someone blasted his face at point blank range!

"How to _breathe?_" I ask incredulously. Because, yeah my Dad did his best to show me a few moves and how to empty my mind but _breathing_ was just something you did. If you gave yourself _time_ to breathe, you could calm the inner flame. You could calm the firestorm of your temper.

"Firebending." He corrected me.

"My dad showed me what he knew after fighting the Fire Nation for years. I made up some stuff." I shrugged.

"Your father would be?" The old man asked. I should probably at least ask him his name, but that's verging into _friendly_ territory. What could they do with information of who my father is? Hold me ransom?

I didn't want to risk it. I consciously opened and closed my mouth to convey the message. _There's no way I'm just handing it over to you. Find out on your own! _Work_ for your evil deeds._

And you know, in the Water Tribes _anyone_ would've recognized the gesture. _I'm not talking, so stop asking._ Apparently it's a whole lot different in the Fire Nation.

"You mentioned a chief Hakoda." Zuko recalled. And darn it all, one day I will learn to fight _without_ opening my big mouth. Probably not going to happen any day soon though.

"Interesting to know he claims a young firebender as his blood, when by rights he should've left you in the colonies when your bending was discovered." He mused to himself. I felt my temper flare and the small fires in the room flared with it. How dare he say these things about my father? I'll _burn_ him for that!

"Prince Zuko, we must be more charitable. I doubt this Hakoda knew of the options for such children when she was born, and her mother would no doubt argue against leaving her with their long time enemy." The old man spoke. He really wasn't helping the case. He could at least have the decency to use my father's rank! "Family is very important to the Water Tribes."

After a couple more minutes the old man left, mumbling about getting a nap. This left me with his royal grump as company while he tried to think of what to do with me. I was probably going to end up in some Fire Nation prison for the rest of my life, unless I managed to escape.

Despite the tenseness of the situation I dozed off. I could hardly believe it when I jolted awake to find Aang in here trying to get his staff back and somehow using a ball of air to roll around on the ceiling to avoid slashes of flamey death. I had to whirl my entire body around in a circle to redirect those flames from me since my hands were still cuffed behind my back.

"Nice work." I complimented him after he trounced Zuko with his own table. Aang helped me get to my feet and we ran off before prince ponytail could get up and chase us.

"Thanks!" He isn't even panting when we reach the deck again. Unfortunately we can't stop to find the keys to these cuffs. This becomes a problem when there is no way for me to hang on when he tries to glide us away with his staff. It gives Zuko plenty of time to catch up to us.

"Stop where you are!" He orders us, providing some nice incentive to disobey him by lobbying a few fireballs at us. Right, I'm totally going to stand right in this spot and let you fry me. And after that, I think I'll take a thirty mile swim, just for the heck of it.

"So, Aang, you're the avatar." That far off day of keeping my mouth shut? Yeah, it's _far_ off. I may as well make conversation to distract myself from the fact I'm likely to die in the next few seconds. "How's that working out for you?"

"Um, not too great to be honest." He answers absently, busy dodging flamey death from all the soldiers who have joined us on deck. They've got us outnumbered and out gunned and I'm limited to using the amount of fire I can kick out with my arms bound like this. I can't let the Fire Nation get a hold of the avatar. There's only one thing to do.

"Aang, fly out of here! Get going!" I shout at him from across the battle field. I'm out of breath and these manacles are warmer than is strictly comfortable. I am _not_ about to be held responsible for the world ending because the Avatar stayed behind to try and help me.

"What about you?" The little idealistic idiot. What part of _Avatar: The World's Savior_ does he not understand?

"Probably going to end up as extra crispy jerky." I honestly replied. I don't think he'd believe me if I said I had the Fire Nation bastards right where I wanted them. Heck, _I_ wouldn't believe me, and I've tried lying to myself before.

"Neither of you are going anywhere." Ponytail man informs us. Aang and I prepare ourselves for what is most likely going to be a very one-sided battle, until we suddenly see the soldiers all gaping at the sky.

"Appa!" Aang cries joyously. Yep, the fluffy snot monster has appeared, flying. And steering this ten ton mammal? That would be my dear, soon-to-be-deceased little sister, Katara.

Oh yeah, I haven't forgotten my promise to kill her for triggering that boobie trap.

I regain focus just in time to see prince ponytail launch a concentrated attack on Aang. He seems to have forgotten me for the moment, leaving me for his goons. One of these goons, by the way, seems to have a set of keys jangling from his belt. What are the odds that my key is among them?

You know, despite how easy it is to dehumanize them, I really wish that the Fire Nation wouldn't dress their soldiers in identical skull masks and uniforms. It makes it so much harder to tell which one was the one who locked these cuffs on my wrists. I can't tell them apart at all!

"Okay, give me the keys and no one gets crispy." I try to challenge them. Predictably, they attack me. I guess I don't look as intimidating with my hands behind my back.

"Aang! AANG!" I swivel around, momentarily using one guard who got too close as a meat shield so I can find out why Katara is screaming like the little airbending twit just died.

Well, falling into freezing waters while unconscious could be considering dying, I guess. I mean, that's pretty straight forward.

"No!" I gasp and try to get to the railing. Guards one and two grab me by my arms to stop me. I growl and lunge, biting one arm. I'm not sure how much good it does with his sleeve in the way, but since I also spat some fire I think I got my point across.

A side effect of this little exchange is that I'm able to get the keys and then get away. And for the record, having hands free when a possessed Aang uses a giant water spout and water wall to knock every man over board is a very good idea that I highly recommend.

"Now _that's _bending." I whistle in appreciation while I rub my wrists. They're red from where I strained against the bonds during my fight. Aang knocks everyone over board Avatar style, then promptly collapses to the deck.

"Aang!" Katara props him up and he weakly opens his eyes. He looks like me when we run out of sleeping tea in the middle of summer, only less likely to burn things.

Then again, he _is_ the Avatar. He probably _can_ burn things if he wants to.

"I dropped my staff." He mutters. I spot the stick by the rail and stand up.

"I'll get it." Isn't it just my luck when as soon as I grab it, someone else does too? I screamed in terror and quickly poked ponytail in the head until he loses his grip and falls. I didn't stick around to hear the splash though.

And just so there's no confusion over whether the spirits find amusement in my life or not, as soon as I start running back to the _flying_ bison Katara slings water at me that quickly freezes my feet to the floor.

"Katara!" I groan as I start blasting the ice with some fire. Good thing I'm wearing thick boots.

"Sorry!" She shouts and turns around, performing the same move just in time to stop some guards from grabbing her. We both make it onto the bison with Aang and take off flying.

"Well, that was fun." I groan as I lay back. I never want to see the inside of a Fire Navy ship again. And if I ever see prince ponytail again it'll be way too soon.

"Not over yet!" Aang warned me before leaping off into the air. I finally get to see him use his glider the way it was intended when he changes the flight pattern of a very big fireball. I mutely stare as a huge avalanche covers the ship before us, buying plenty of time for our get away.

The silence doesn't last long. First Katara starts to giggle, then Aang breaks out in full laughter, and finally even I start to chuckle. Pretty soon we're all laughing uncontrollably, and probably hysterically. I know I was hysterical at least. I _really_ need to catch some shut eye.

"…Katara, what's with these supplies?" I see sleeping bags, a tent, extra blankets, food, water, and a change of clothes each. This is the sort of thing I'd take on a weeklong hunting trip into the tundra, not a rescue mission.

"Gran-gran gave them to me, she said that our destinies our entwined with Aang's." She explained. She says that like it's not a colossal step for us, leaving home to aid the Avatar.

"What else did she say?" I ask.

"That she packed a month's worth of your tea in the side pouch and that I should force feed you some as soon as it's safe." Yeah, that sounds like Gran-gran alright.

"Hmm, do you think I told her I love her enough times?" I pondered aloud as I start digging out the ingredients and a small pot that I can boil water in the palm of my hand. There's a few more laughs all around.

"Hey Aang, where did you learn those water bending moves?" Katara asks excitedly. I was curious too, but it wasn't like I was _surprised._ He's the Avatar, they tend to bend all four elements right?

"I don't know," He shrugged, uncomfortable with the sudden topic change. "I just…did it." I raised a delicate brow and shared a look with my sister.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were the Avatar?" Yeah, trust Katara to get right to where it hurts the most. He doesn't have my temper though, he just sort of deflates and curls up tighter into a little ball. For an all-powerful world spirit, he looks an awful lot like a twelve year old boy to be.

"Because…" Oh spirits, a _twelve year old boy_. He's been asleep for a hundred years, and right when he wakes up finds out he's a wanted man. "I never wanted to be."

And if that weren't bad enough, I think I'm only just starting to realize that I'm looking at the last of his kind.

Well, if that wasn't enough to kill my good mood I don't know what is.

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara says gently.

"I don't even know how to be the Avatar." Aang grumbles softly. It doesn't sound like a very fun job to me either. The world is a heavy burden to place on someone's shoulders, let alone a kid like Aang. I wish we _could_ go back to the village, just tell the war to wait until he grew up. I don't think the world's that kind though.

"Well, according to the legend you have to master water, earth, then fire, right?" Katara smiles at him.

"I guess." He brightens a bit at that.

"Well, if we go to the North Pole, I'm sure we could find a water bending master to train you!" She finishes excitedly.

"We could learn together!" I wince but nobody notices. Gran-gran's told me about our sister tribe, and some of its traditions. It was a long time ago, over half a century has passed since she left for mysterious reasons, maybe some of the traditions changed.

I am _not_ going to be the one to tell my sister she probably won't find a master there, thank you very much. I enjoy life outside of an ice berg, no offense to Aang.

"And Sukka, I'm sure you could break some Fire Nation heads along the way." My sister, who knows exactly how to motivate me.

"I'd like that," I sigh and lean back as my tea is finally ready to drink. "I'd really like that." I pour some in a cup and take a small sip. Straight tea is a little bitter, but adding something like sugar to tea is kind of wasteful. Hello good night's sleep!

"Before we do that though there are some stops we've got to make." Aang informs us. I yawn and cover myself with the parka Gran-gran packed for me, already feeling the effects of the tea. He lays down a map and I absently watch as he points to several places.

"What's here?" Katara points to a small island, not too far off the coast from the northern most part of the South Pole.

"Here is where we'll ride the elephant koi," He's almost jumping up and down in excitement. I yawn and snuggle against our supplies. "Here we'll ride the blue-nosed baboons, they don't like being ridden, but that's what makes it fun!"

Between one word and the next, I drop off to sleepy time land. Population? Me!

**Temporary POV Change! Aang!**

We land on a rocky place with a nearby river. Sukka fell asleep a while ago so me and Katara set up camp. It was late and we were all tired, so we didn't do anything fancy, we just laid out the sleeping bags Katara brought. Then we had to figure out how to get Sukka into one of them.

"Come on Sukka, wake up!" Katara shakes her shoulder, making Sukka flinch and mutter something about fireballs.

Sukka and Katara are sisters, but one is a fire bender and one's a water bender. They barely even look alike! They wear mostly the same clothes, and their face shape is the same, the shape of their eyes too. I think that's the only similar thing about them though.

I mean, Katara's always happy and is really nice. Sukka seems more serious and grumpy. Katara was really brave, flying to help us on Appa like that, while Sukka was just focused on trying to make me leave her behind!

"Katara, beloved baby sister, let me sleep or suffer the consequences." Also, Sukka's sort of scary. Her gold eyes become really hard and pale when she glares like that. It's enough to make me take a whole step back.

"You can go back to sleep _after_ you get in the sleeping bag." Katara is really brave, braver than me for sure. She acts like she doesn't even notice Sukka's glare!

"_grumble grumble._" Somehow Katara gets Sukka upright long enough to stumble off Appa's tail and into the bag. Sukka starts to snore right away, not even noticing Katara take down her hair or wipe away some of that make up that was still on her face.

"Wow, she looked pretty angry." I mutter once I'm sure Sukka's too asleep to hear me.

"Don't worry about her, she's just tired because she can't get a lot of sleep during the summer." Katara waves it off. "Fire benders can't sleep well with the sun up."

"Oh, is that why she drank that tea?" Sukka had actually _lunged_ for it as soon as Katara delivered the message from their grandmother. I've _never_ seen someone that excited over tea before.

"Yeah, it's a special blend Gran-gran made to put her to sleep, even during the height of Midnight Sun." She explains.

"We're going to see your temple in the morning, right?" She asks as she settles in to her own bag. I build up the fire with some weird kindling I found in one of Sukka's pouches, next to the tea.

"Yeah, just wait! It's one of the most beautiful places in the entire world!" I can already see it in my mind. The monks and lemurs and bison, all sharing the same sky.

"Sounds great Aang." She yawns. I grin and lie down on Appa's tail, staring up at the night sky. When I fall asleep, I dream about sarcastic fire benders, brave water benders, and flying.

**POV Switch Back! Sukka!**

"Sukka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" I scream as I feel the thing wiggle and try to get out of my bag without setting everything on fire. I only half succeed.

"Not funny!" I growl at the air headed twit holding the stick.

"Sorry, my mistake!" He is completely unrepentant. I shall smite him for this. "Now that you're awake we can go to the Southern Air Temple!"

Southern Air Temple? When did we get here? I try to pull my sleep addled brains together as I clamber out of the bag I don't remember getting in to. I seem to be missing several important memories. Man, that tea is some strong stuff!

"Sleep well?" Katara smirks at me. I grumble and dig into my bag. I remember seeing a small pouch of seal jerky next to the tea. Now, did I accidentally mess with it after zoning out?

"Where the hell is my food?" I finally got a full sentence out. That's better than what usually happens around this time of day. Normally I angrily go through my training schedule until everyone else wakes up.

"Food? That bag had food in it?" Aang gulps as I hold out the bag of the missing jerky, unable to comprehend why yesterday it was full of dried meat and today it is empty of all but crumbs.

"Aang, what did you do?" I ask in a calm voice. The campfire had gained a bit of strength but I was still too sleepy to get well and truly angry yet.

"Um, I thought it was kindling so I used it to start the fire last night." He admitted. I can feel my eyebrow twitch in agitation. Gran-gran couldn't spare a lot of food for us and still feed the village for this winter. There was enough jerky in that bag to last a couple days, if I stretched it out.

"And I didn't even get to smell the campfire." I grumble under my breath, choosing to let the Avatar live for now. He's lucky he's supposed to save the world.

"You aren't mad?" He asked incredulously.

"Let's just say there had better be food at this temple or I'm going to start gnawing on your fluffy snot monster." I compromise.

"You can't eat Appa!" It's funny to listen how his voice cracks when he yells like that.

I lean back to enjoy the Sun's rays while Katara tries to keep Aang from getting his hopes up. It didn't seem to be working. For his sake, I hope he's right, but then where did the stories of the fire nation killing everyone come from? If they didn't kill all the air benders then why has no one seen any for a hundred years?

And if they are alive, then they won't be the people he knew. Everyone he knew is probably dead and gone by now. Man, I just depressed myself with this, I can't even get properly annoyed for his wasting my jerky. Talk about a lose-lose situation.

"We're here!" I jump out of my skin and sit up. It takes my breath away.

All the stories I've heard have never described how the temples really looked. I don't see anything moving down there, there's hardly anything green, but it looks so much like something out of a spirit tale that I half expect for it to be an illusion. In a way, it is. In this beautiful place one of the greatest tragedies of history had been played out. It made the beauty seem like a lie.

"We're home buddy, we're home." And for Aang it wasn't just a lie, it was going to be a full on heart break.

"Still hungry Aang!" I state once we're on the ground. My voice echoes, bouncing off the ruined buildings and back to me.

"You're one of the first outsiders ever to see an Air Temple and you can't stop thinking about your stomach?" Katara scolds me. Does she not notice how _empty_ this place is? I feel like I'm trespassing!

My stomach growls and I softly croon to it. Don't you worry little guy, we'll find some food soon.

"You're talking to your stomach?" She asks with a disbelieving look.

"It's talking to me!" I defend myself with a pout.

"Come on guys!" Aang calls for us, half way up the steps leading to some huge buildings. "I want to show you everything!"

"Over there is where the head monks would meditate, and there is where the bison would sleep!" He pointed over to a few skeleton trees and a huge ledge with no vegetation at all. "And there's the air ball court!" I wonder what kind of game that was.

"Aang?" Katara sets one of her hands on the suddenly quiet monk.

"It's just, this place used to be filled with monks and lemurs and bison, and now it's full of weeds." He sighs. "I can't believe how much has changed."

Katara sends a silent request for back up my way and I (Just as silently) groan. Maybe I can satisfy my curiosity and cheer up the little twit at the same time.

"So how does this air ball game work anyway?" I ask, slinging an arm around his thin shoulders. The look he gives me sends shivers of foreboding dancing up and down my spine. I feel as though I just stepped on someone's grave. This is going to hurt, isn't it?

In answer to my previous question, it does indeed hurt. _If_, you're not an air bender! Which, I assure you, I am not. You see the players stand on these big poles, pass a ball between themselves and try to get it through the opponents' goal. Simple enough in theory, but it turns out to be kind of painful when you can't redirect the ball _away_ from your squishy middle area with an air blast. And since I don't feel like burning a hundred year old relic, I don't use my fire bending.

Which leads me to being thrust through my own goal by a particularly hard toss which wins Aang his third point while I've got nada.

"Ouch, why does it take putting me through a world of hurt to cheer him up?" I grumble as I climb to my feet. I freeze in shock.

_Dead thing!_ I yelp and scramble backwards, as though expecting distance to somehow protect me from the skull on the ground. Who the hell leaves skulls just lying around where any innocent girl could nearly fall on them anyway?

"Katara, you might want to see this." Well, not _want_ to see it, more like _look at this super creepy thing I found and help me figure out how to tell Aang about it without making a kid cry._

"What is-?" She cuts herself off. Sitting right in front of us is proof of the Fire Nation invasion. The skull is still wearing their army's helmet, rusted with age. "Oh no."

"They came, they burned, and some of them never left."


	4. Heat Wave

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 4: Heat Wave

"We have to tell him." Not that I want to trample on a kid's pretty picture or anything, but it's pretty darn obvious nobody's home and that nobody's been home for some damn time. Break it to him gently, sure. But he's _got_ to know.

Just like I had to know, during a long summer with the never setting Sun and cranky because I couldn't sleep and _Mom why am I different?_ I had to know then, even as a little girl I had to know why I was so different.

Katara's three years younger than me, they never told her the full story or about Huojin. They told her the straight facts.

"Aang, could you come over here?" She called. I stand up and stare down at the skull. I wonder who he used to be. How did he justify the murder of innocent kids?

"Coming Katara!" I wonder if the other young monks were like Aang. Did they sound like him? Act and fool around like him?

I was so focused on my little pity party (I can admit to myself that I was whining) that I never noticed Katara making the decision to hide the truth. So I was _terribly_ surprised when I got buried by a ton of snow.

"I learned a new water bending trick!" She laughed. Oh dear sister you will _not_ get away from this unscathed. Tonight I shall, um, keep you awake by banging pots together or something. Hmm, darn, there's a considerable lack of penguins to lure here. How am I supposed to freak her out for revenge?

"That's great, but we'll have time for that later. Come on, there's something else I want to show you!" He blew away, completely unaware of the secret she'd just hidden from him.

…_Crap, I landed on the dead thing._ Oh gross, ew ew ew! I scrambled off and brushed the snow away, glaring at my _oh so innocently_ conniving little sister.

"He's going to find out you know. Wouldn't it be better if we did it gently instead of him running straight into a corpse?" I ask cynically. She winces and kicks the snow.

"I know, I'll tell him." She sighs. I follow her up the steps to the main building. What do they call these things? Monasteries?

"Hey Aang-!" She cut herself off when we caught up to him. He was paying his respects to a statue. It was carved from wood, good strong stuff too. The monk it depicted looked very peaceful, as though he weren't looking at the temple of today, he was looking at it as it used to be.

"I'd like to introduce you to somebody." Aang said, turning around to face us. He swept an arm out to gesture to the statue. "This is my teacher, monk Gyatso." Huh, I wonder what he did to earn a statue.

Beyond teaching the avatar anyway. That might be good enough on its own.

"Aang, where are you going?" I came back to the present to notice Aang going up a small flight of steps.

"To the Air Sanctuary, there's someone I'm ready to meet." He doesn't honestly think someone could survive in a sealed room for a hundred years, does he? Well, maybe if they had supplies? But no, they'd run out and it would get rotten.

"Aang, no one could survive for a hundred years like that." Katara pointed out gently. Okay, I know I said she should break things gently, but at the end of the day you're still snapping someone's beliefs. The least she could do is stop tip toeing around it and say the darn thing.

"I survived in that ice berg." He has a good point. I said as much. It wasn't _totally impossible_ to go a hundred years locked up in a secure place.

"Besides, there might be food inside." I voiced my vote for this plan on totally selfless motives, I swear.

And then we found the big fancy door.

"Big, pretty,…" I raised an eye brow. "_Locked."_

"How do we open it?" Katara asked.

"With airbending." Aang grinned. He launched himself into some kind of kata, blowing wind into these strange pipe things. They sounded like giant flutes when the air came rushing out again and the door swung open. I wonder if air nomads liked music.

The room inside was empty. Sort of. It was filled with statues. They spiraled up and away into the ceiling, thousands of them standing watch. It gave an eerie quality to the room as we walked inside, following behind Aang. For a _sanctuary_ this was rather creepy.

"They're arranged in a pattern." Katara noticed. I looked closer. "Air, water, earth, and fire." We came to a stop in front of the last statue in the spiral.

"A fire bender." I deduced. The robes and top knot gave it away easy. His face was locked forever in a cold, detached expression. He was probably bored after spending over a hundred years waiting for Aang.

"It's the Avatar cycle." Aang gaped. He stood directly in front of the fire bender.

"So you were Fire Nation in a past life." I mutter. "No wonder I didn't trust you." It was _meant_ as joke, but honestly he just really left a bad impression. I chose to look at the statues beside this guy.

"Who was he?" I heard Katara ask, meaning the statue. I checked the bottom of the Earth Kingdom woman but there was no plaque for a name.

"Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me." Did the monks tell him that? I looked at the next previous avatar, a guy from the water tribes. Before that was another woman, but in air bender threads. Did he know who they were?

I was the first one to register the humming sound from the doors sweeping open again. I grabbed Katara and pulled us behind one of the statues, watching Aang do the same. I held up a finger for silence, drawing my boomerang with the other hand. No one else should be here.

But there obviously was. And judging from that shadow,

"Fire Nation, stay quiet." I informed and ordered my friend and sister. Katara hissed something about me not being quiet but I clapped a hand over her mouth and gave her a stern _look._

The shadow got longer, which I didn't understand. They were supposed to get shorter the farther you were from the light, so coming into the sanctuary should've made it smaller as footsteps got louder. I _still_ couldn't hear footsteps. Fire Nation people weren't supposed to be quiet!

Turns out, not a fire nation soldier. It was some sort of lemur thing. About the size of a polar cub-puppy, though it probably weighed a lot less. I didn't much care beyond the fact it looked edible.

"Dinner!" I was already drooling. Sorry little guy, you're cute, but unfortunately for you, you are also made of meat.

"Don't listen to her, you're going to be my new pet!" Oh, no way Aang. Last of your kind and a kid or not, you have denied me seal jerky, you shall not deny me dinner.

For future reference, airbenders are very fast and can apparently generate little balls of air they can ride on to get ahead of you. Oh, and jump off cliffs. Without the horrible splat at the end.

"Crazy, insane little airbender twit." I grumbled as I took a slower route down. There were some natural stairs off to the right, but they ended half way through. Now, how to get down there and into that torn apart building _before_ Aang gets attached to my dinner.

Oh who am I kidding? It was a lost cause from the get go. I'm never going to get any food unless I get it myself and Aang already told us he's a vegetarian. How does anyone live without meat and fish anyway? Just doesn't make any sense. What, did they just eat fruit pies a hundred years ago?

I dropped like a stone and rolled like an armadillo-lion once I hit the ground. I shook myself off and jogged into the building.

"Hey Aang, find my dinner yet?" I ask, parting the old cloth door. Yeesh, everything here that wasn't stone was falling apart, and a lot of that stone was broken too.

Oh no. Little airbending twit with hunched shoulders and shaking like he's going to cry.

"Aang, I wasn't really going to eat the little guy." I reassure him quietly, placing a hand on his shoulder. I looked up from him for just a second, and even without a mirror I knew my already pale complexion had just gained a likeness to hard glacier ice.

Fire Nation bodies, at least fifteen of them and that was just the _skulls_ I could see. And leaning against some debris at the very end of the building, in old duds and a necklace I had only seen on a statue before, was a skeleton of a monk. I had a very bad feeling about which monk it was.

And something tells me Aang has that same clench in his gut.

"Come on, we shouldn't be in here. Let's find-!" I wasn't expecting the sudden gale blast that sent me crashing into another pile of debris.

I grunted from the impact and watched, awestruck, at the second use of all an Avatar's fury. Everything about him glowed, his eyes and his tattoos. The air whirled around him, furious with _How dare they_ and _Not him, why him?_ My mouth was dry and it was all I had to grab hold to a piece of old wall to keep myself anchored.

"Aang, calm down!" I pleaded. It was like he didn't even hear me. The wall of air had turned into a sphere, surrounding him. The roof had been blown off, such as it was, and the building seemed to have finally had enough and was breaking apart around us.

"Sukka, what's going on?" Katara shouted over the sound of roaring wind. It was like being alone in an igloo while there's a blizzard going on outside. You might as well be the last man on Earth.

"He found Gyatso's skeleton!" Darn it, I _knew_ we should've broken it to him sooner!

"Oh no!" She looked at Aang with so much sadness in her eyes. She moved past what shelter was there, intent on an insane quest.

My sister may not be _seeing things_ crazy, but sometimes I'd swear she just isn't walking on the same ground as everyone else. You couldn't have _paid_ me to go near Aang when he was like this.

"Aang, I know how you feel!" She'd better have a better argument than the one she uses on me. "The Fire Nation killed Gyatso, just like they killed my mother!" I wince and touch the choker around my throat.

"They killed your family, but you're not alone!" She shouted up at him. Was it my imagination or was the wind dying down? "Sukka and me, we're your family now!" Aang started slowly coming back to Earth. He was still glowing, but it wasn't nearly as terrifying. I stood up.

She took his hand, I placed a hand on his shoulder. "We're not going to let anything happen to you, promise." I keep my word.

Aang collapsed as he finally came out of the Avatar state. Katara caught him, just like she did when he first fell out of an ice berg and into our lives forever. I knelt beside them but let Katara keep the spot light.

"You were right Katara." That sounded like the most horrible fate in the world just then. I think Katara would've even given up her bending if she could've been wrong, just this once. "And if they came here, that means the Fire Nation reached the other temples too."

"I really am the last airbender." I closed my eyes and took three deliberate breaths. Aang had pretty much gale blasted this place, but some of the bodies remained. That included Gyatso, who hadn't even been touched.

"Aang, I know it hurts, but you have to tell us what your people would want in a burial." I try to sound as gentle as I can. "We can't go back in time, but we can fix things in the here and now."

Aang looked like he didn't want to go near this thing with a ten foot pole, so I did most of the leg work while Katara sat with him. Outside, where they could see the sun and sky and not breathe in the smell of decay. I envied them greatly, but didn't begrudge them. Like it or not, I was the only one in still working order.

I gathered up the Fire Nation first, and any old wood I thought would burn. I did find more monks, even some kids, but I didn't touch them yet. Aang hadn't managed to tell us how to put Air Nomads to rest yet and I didn't want to anger any ghosts that were lingering.

I froze in my work and dropped the skull I'd been placing on the unlit pyre. Gran-gran said ghosts usually linger where violence was done. I'm standing in the middle of the sight of a great massacre. And I'm a fire bender.

_I've probably already pissed off every ghost here. _Lucky me, I get to play bait while Katara gets to play healer. If I get knocked off the mountain by a vengeful spirit I am going to _dip her braid in ink!_

As soon as I find some ink. I might have to substitute with mud.

Well, no ghosts came to get me so I lit it up and watched it catch. The wood catches quick and starts to burn. Everything Fire Nation I could find, bits of armor, bones, red cloth, went up in flames. I shook off the melancholy the fire put me in and went to see if Aang was ready to tell me how to help his people. There were just _so many_ left. There had been only twenty fire nation remains I could find.

There were a _lot_ of dead monks left in the temple.

Katara told me what Aang told her. Air nomads were given back to the air, like we give ours back to the sea. It had taken more detailed explanations for how that worked. Bodies sink in water but they certainly don't _float_ in the air.

A bison takes the body, high up above the clouds to where you can't see the ground anymore. From there, it's a straight shot down.

It took a lot of trips, the Sun was going down by time we finished. Aang was with us when we finally got to Gyatso. There were tears, and hugs all around. After that, Aang went back to stare at Roku more.

"How is he supposed to help me if he's dead?" He asked. I don't know if he even realized he said it out loud. This had been a pretty rough day. If I were him, spirits forbid that ever happen, I'd be pretty out of it too. Gyatso had been like his _father,_ to learn he was dead, had been dead for a hundred years, I can't imagine how much that must hurt.

And I'll admit it, when I made sure the pyre was out and most of the ashes had blown away, I had felt bad for them. They'd been left without burials for so long, how could they ever be content with one _mixed up_ Firebending Water Tribe girl laying them to rest?

And I wasn't talking about the monks.

"We'll figure it out." Katara assured him.

I heard a weird purring sound and turned around. It was the lemur again, carrying a tiny armful of goodies. My eyes probably looked like they were about to pop out of my sockets.

From that moment on I decided the lemur was my new best friend, even if he hadn't brought me seal jerky. I flopped down and started digging in to the fruit, enjoying every juicy bite.

"Looks like you've made a friend." Katara laughed. I gave her a _look._ _Sorry, but the receiver of the message you have sent isn't home now, try again after she's eaten._

"What are you going to call him?" Katara asked Aang. The little lemur then earned his spot as my vitriolic best bud by stealing a peach from me.

"Momo." Aang decided. He took Momo and Appa outside, leaving me with just my sister and a bunch of dead avatars.

"Tomorrow had better be a good day, and there had better be some meat there, because I just buried at least _two hundred_ people." I demand meat for my wages.

"Come on Sukka." She gave a long-suffering sigh and dragged me out to meet Aang. There was no way we were going to be sleeping in the temple tonight.

"Just a minute, I think I dropped my knife in one of the bedrooms." I wave her off and start jogging back into the building. Dropped is a bit misleading. I may or may not have purposely left it lying in front of the door with the little wooden sign hanging on it that said "Aang".

May or may not have, my memory might be a little faulty. The sign might have said "Ong."

I had found the room earlier, while I was gathering up the bodies for burial. I hadn't really thought there'd be anyone in the bedrooms, surely everyone was either fighting or flying away right? And, I _didn't_ find anyone in the bedrooms.

I pick up my knife and gingerly open the door. The hingest squeak in protest and I wince, listening for a few seconds to make sure they didn't follow me.

The room is pretty bare, there's a pai sho game board, a bed, and a chest where Aang probably kept his clothes. Everything is covered in a layer of dust, thick enough that I leave footprints. Ones that I'm very careful to place over the ones already there.

Someone's been here in the last hundred years, pretty recently judging from the lack of dust over these prints. They aren't the boot treads I associate with Fire Nation soldiers, or even the leather boots of water tribe men. I have to tip toe to stop myself from leaving a larger foot print in each indent, whoever was here was either younger than me or had freakishly tiny feet.

About Aang size feet, come to think of it.

I follow the foot prints to the bed, and pick up the scroll left lying there. It's not even tied shut with a ribbon and my eyes accidentally catch the first few words.

_This letter is the third copy of the original written by Monk Gyatso to his student—!_

I slam my eyes closed and roll it up, unable and unwilling to read further. This letter was not meant for my eyes.

But that someone was able to return to the temple after the Fire Nation left and place this here in case Aang came back, and then routinely come to check on it and copy it when the paper got old as the footprints suggested…

I carefully made my way back out of the room and sprinted down the stairs to meet with the others. Once we're away from this haunted place I'll show it to him. I don't think I could do that here though, in the presence of the men and children who died here.

"What took you so long?" Katara jokingly asks me as I walk up Appa's tail. The scroll is safely tucked into my parka.

"I was trying to find the bathroom." I shrug and make myself comfortable leaning against the backpacks. With a yip yip we're up in the air, going who knows where to do who knows what, and master the four elements along the way.

We set up camp on an island I remembered from a winter night story telling. Hiding behind an igloo to listen in on stories was a pretty good way to pass the time when I just _couldn't _sleep anymore. Apparently whales stay away from here because they believe this island to be the tail of the world's largest whale.

Looks like dirt to me.

"Night Katara, night Aang." I yawn and stretch my arms over my head. They both collapse into their respective beds, Katara in her sleeping bag and Aang on Appa's tail. I hadn't had a chance to draw him away to give him his letter, it'll have to wait for morning.

I finish stretching and survey the area around us. I dug into the ground a bit so the fire wouldn't show at a distance, but Appa's a pretty big silhouette. There doesn't seem to be anyone around for miles, and I'm not dumb enough to pretend I don't need sleep. Quite frankly, I should be letting down my hair and curling up by the fire, not throwing my boomerang around.

I finally get the chance for regular sleeping hours and what do I do? I play with my weapons when I could be sleeping. I just can't be satisfied, can I?

I do get some sleep eventually, which I berate myself for because Katara and Aang decided that it was the perfect time to sneak off in the early morning hours to do who knew what together.

Aang, Avatar or not if I find out you've so much as seen Katara with her hair down I may have to kill you.

"We're going to have crispy Aang and dried out Katara when I get a hold of them." I grumble and top another small hill. This place looks flat but it's all hills and valleys, with really tall grass to hide the height difference. Bending grass also provides a pretty good guess as to where little sister and young airbender went off to and where they might be headed.

Which is in my general direction, very quickly.

"Oh_ monkey-feathers!_" I curse and scramble back to the relative safety that is Appa's huge mass. I really didn't want to start a grass fire here, I'd never be able to put it out.

Turns out, it was less monkey-feathers and more_ Hog-Monkeys!_

Okay, penguin sledding is a time honored pass time for kids in our tribe. We take them up to the slopes and ride them down through the ice tunnels, it's all fun and games and usually nobody gets hurt. At least nothing worse than a broken arm or leg.

Let me inform you ladies and gentlemen, Hog-Monkeys are _not_ penguins. They do _not like_ being ridden, even with a bribe of lychee nuts. They _will_ do everything in their power to unsaddle you and send you flying into the air straight into innocent Firebending teenage girls.

"Aang, get your fat Avatar butt off me before I flambé it!" I warn him. He makes a decidedly unmanly yelping sound and scrambles off me. I can already hear Katara laughing.

The sight of her struggling to remain on the back of an angry Hog-Monkey makes me feel a lot better about the situation. I silently bask in her terror as the animal finally tosses her off, over the sand, and into the water.

Her look promises painful and possibly _wet_ things in the very near future if I can't contain my giggle fit.

"Well I hope you've had your fun," I calm down and give my best foreboding look to them both, which makes Aang freeze like an arctic-hen introduced to a polar bear-dog and Katara stiffen in suspicion. "Because while you go and dry off Aang and I need to have a few words in private." I grab the little bald monk and drag him off before either one can protest.

"I'm sorry we didn't invite you along but Katara said you wouldn't want to anyway because you didn't even really like riding penguins and besides you were probably still tired from yesterday and all but we really didn't want to wait because we saw a Hog-Monkey troop go by and we didn't want to miss out on it!" He finally stops to take a deep breath and I silence him by putting my hand over his mouth and looking around Appa to make sure Katara can't hear.

"You're not in trouble Aang." He sighs in relief and loses a lot of the tension in his shoulders. Whelp, now's as good a time as any.

"Aang, yesterday when I left my knife in the bedrooms, I found _your_ room." I pause to gauge his reaction.

"Yeah, what about it?" He shrugs. He didn't go there, he didn't see.

"Someone had been there before us, probably only by a couple of weeks." I inform him, drawing out the scroll. "They left this."

He takes it from me and starts to read. At first he goes pale, even his arrow looks like a lighter blue than before. Then his hands start to clench the ends tighter and his face twists, I can't really tell if he's mad or about to cry. I'll be happy so long as he doesn't go all glowy on my butt.

"I didn't read it." I tell him once his eyes stop moving across the paper for longer than five seconds. "You don't have to tell me what it says if you don't want to. It's your business." Oh I _wanted_ to know. I was almost dying being confronted with a mystery I simply wasn't allowed to solve. But I wasn't going to take away his last connection with someone from his past.

"This is…" He doesn't continue. He rolls it up and bows to me, making me raise a brow in question. "I need to meditate on this."

"I understand." He jumps into Appa's saddle and settles down with his eyes closed and fists together. I stare for a minute then move back around the giant fluffy snot monster.

"What's he doing?" Katara asks, pointing to the little monk. I absently knock down her finger before I answer her.

"He's meditating. It's what monks do." I play it off as though I hadn't probably twisted the dagger in the kid's heart. "We should leave him alone for now."

"Okay." She sighs in disappointment.

"Come on, I saw a village that we flew over yesterday. We need actual food supplies." I put my arm around her shoulders, the better to drag her around with. Hopefully the people here accept Water Tribe money.

"You're _not_ just going to buy a lot of meat." She playfully scolds me. I draw back with a hand over my heart, as though her words were an arrow directly into my soul.

"Oh ye of little faith." I grumble with a small smile on my lips as I hand her the money. She'd probably be better at bartering for a better price than me anyway.

"There are so many people." Katara commented. I wasn't that impressed. So they had about three times the amount of people in our village, counting the men of the tribe. There were bound to be more people in the world.

Although it was pretty weird to see so many men after living for two years with only women and children for company. If there are still this many at home then how many are out fighting in the war? Is this village even bigger than we can see?

"And a surplus of food, so let's buy some!" I steered her towards the market. After she got into the bartering bit I just sort of stood leaning against the wall.

"Hey, you new in town?" I blinked up at a guy around the same age as me. Green clothes, nice tan, hazel eyes and a pretty good figure.

"Yup." I drawled, completely unimpressed. "Name's Sukka."

"I'm Chang, we don't usually get such cute visitors in town." Gee, exotic, pretty, beautiful, and now cute? At this rate I'll get a swelled head. Not that it's so bad being complimented.

"I can't imagine why." I try to give him a polite smile and anxiously look over to where my sister is paying for some fruit. "If you'll excuse me, I should help my sister carry the groceries."

"I'll help you out!" He offered, still giving me a flirtatious grin. Spirits, what am I supposed to do? We're going to leave in a little while, I doubt this guy could come along! Plus, Aang's the avatar, we should probably be keeping that a secret.

_On the bright side, he's not flirting with me anymore._ I paused in that train of thought. I was pretty sure there was something screwy in my logic, I just couldn't pin it down.

"Hurry up Sukka, next we're going to a place where we can ride giant elephant-koi!" Aang buzzed from his seat on Appa's head. I groaned and picked up the last of the scattered vegetables, now covered in a small layer of dirt from being dropped by Chang. I guess he hadn't been expecting Aang to drop out of the sky on his glider.

"I'm coming, keep your arrow on!" I snapped at him, hoisting myself into the saddle. I gave Katara the food to pack away and dug out a map. It was over a hundred years old, just like everything else Aang owned. It was also practically useless in terms of anything but relative location.

Then again, I guess Air Nomads wouldn't have to worry about that too much. Bison can cover a lot of distance, so a few hundred miles of open sea is nothing. I'll have to make a note to spring for some _accurate_ maps later.

"Katara, hand me some needle and thread. I need to fix the pants that Aang ripped." My _only_ good pair of pants by the way, seeing as I got taken by Zuko while wearing warrior clothes and we only got one change of clothes each.

"Do you want me to do it?" She asked, hesitating before handing over the requested objects.

"I'm perfectly capable of sewing up my own pants." I assure while stripping them off beneath my parka.

"The _last_ time you sewed while angry you burned through a month's worth of thread." I begrudgingly hand over the pants.


	5. Camp Fire

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 5: Camp Fire.

"Hey Katara do you want to see this neat airbending trick?" I look up for a moment, wincing in sympathy with the little airbender as he was _politely_ ignored. Katara can get pretty focused on one task, and sewing up my pants is a pretty crucial matter, but she could've spared five seconds to actually look at the kid.

"You weren't even looking!" Aang accused. I groaned and gripped the bridge of my nose. Aang's maps had been irritating me with their inaccuracy and I was _still_ curious about that letter. I had to keep reminding myself that curiosity killed the cat-owl to stop myself from asking about it. Aang would talk when he felt like talking, I had to just let it go.

"That's great." Of course focusing on my well-meaning little sister does provide a nice distraction.

"I wouldn't bother Aang, you just have to give her space when she's focused on something." I roll up the maps. I have decided to only look at them when I am insanely desperate, they irritate me that much.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara challenged me. Oh sure, _now_ she's paying attention.

"It means what it means." I say, not feeling in a very generous mood. "You just get tunnel vision when you have a specific task at hand."

"Done with your pants! Boy was I focused or what?" I should've seen that coming, not least because she tossed them directly at my face. I briefly entertained the idea of explaining myself, convince her I hadn't meant it as an insult.

I heaved a big sigh and finished the sewing myself.

"Don't worry Sukka, where we're going you don't need pants!" Little airbending twit said what now? I shot a suspicious look at his turned back as we approached a nicely sized island. We'd been heading east so this was probably that little island that was next to Whale Tail island.

"Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we stop for the night?" I asked as we landed.

"But Appa's tired already, aren't you buddy?" Aang shot a quick look at his bison, who weakly gave a yawn. "I _said, _aren't you buddy?" This time the groan was a little more believable. Would've been nice if Aang waited until I had dismounted before convincing his ten ton flying mammal to roll over.

"Hard to argue with a giant magical creature." I muttered as I climbed to my feet. It was just one thing after another this past week. What I wouldn't do for some down time.

Aaaand, Aang was already stripping in front of my sister. Sorry World, you'll have to wait a few years for the next Water Tribe Avatar.

"Why are we here Aang?" Katara asked, admiring the foliage here. Until we met Aang the only vegetation I had seen ran the way of winter berries, sea weed, and sea prunes. None of which really appealed to me.

Dad used to tell me about grass and trees. I remember being small and asking what the boats were made of, since it wasn't ice or animal skins. Until leaving I had never before been able to imagine what a tree must look like, let alone soft blades that grew from unfrozen earth and tickled your bare feet.

And bare feet. I never thought I'd see bare feet for longer than the time it takes to change socks.

A huge splash from the bay brought me back to the present and I automatically ducked behind Appa. If Katara was playing with magic water again then that meant it was time to get the heck out of dodge. Steam drying my clothes got very uncomfortable if I hadn't gotten a chance to wash them.

"That's why! Elephant-koi, and I'm going to ride one!" Aang whooped with glee, bounding off in his skivvies to the water. Once certain no giant tidal waves were going to knock me down, I came out of hiding to stand by Katara.

"He's insane, isn't he?" I look at her. She laughs, not listening to me obviously, and waves to the airbender twit who had attached himself to the dorsal fin of this monster of a fish. If I could've landed one of those back at the South Pole the tribe would eat for weeks! I wonder if Aang could steer it just within roasting distance?

Probably not, he kept making this very odd noise when Katara cooked dinner last night. I already told him I wasn't going to eat Momo!

"No Appa, don't eat that!" Katara is surprisingly easy to distract, unfortunately for one giant bison who had decided some sort of tree bark was good eating. He ate his weight in grass yesterday, how can he be hungry?

I noticed that Aang looked upset that Katara wasn't paying attention anymore and shook my head. It made my head hurt knowing a boy was actually interested in my little sister. I had always hung around the older boys of our tribe, before they went off to war, I was the chief's firstborn, and a warrior-in-training. As those boys went ice dodging they began to think seriously of having a family one day.

Katara and I were pretty much the _only_ girls within that age bracket. And Katara was still too much of a kid for anyone to look at.

"Something is in the water." I muttered, watching the dark shadow suspiciously. The shadow got bigger. "_Something's in the water!_" Katara heard me and we both tried to wave Aang back into shore. It was a relatively simple gesture, arms in a circular motion into the air and then back to the body. _Get your seaweed smelling butt back to shore!_

Air nomads were apparently just as ignorant of Water Tribe gestures as the Fire Nation.

"What _is_ that thing?" Katara cried, seeing the giant snake rear its head out of the water.

"I'll tell you what Aang is," I suggested, only half joking. _"Lunch!"_

And just so we can be clear and there aren't any doubts, getting hit by a speeding Air Nomad and thrown into a tree is not pain and risk free. I just figured I ought to throw that in. Consider it some helpful advice.

"Get. Your scrawny. Airbender butt. Off me!" I grunted, finally shoving the woozy twit off my body. He started dressing, giving me time to cool down while Katara caught up to us just as Aang was pulling on his pants.

"Great, can we go now?" I asked bitterly. These little side trips weren't doing me any favors. I'm sick of breaking everyone else's fall.

I was a second too late to get my boomerang.

My automatic reaction to _burn whoever's got their grimy mits on me_ died rather quickly. Quick and ruthless jabs to the stomach to knock out all your air seem to do that. My hood was yanked down over my eyes, my arms wrenched behind my back (No easy or comfortable task in a full parka) and tied, a blindfold replaced my hood.

I heard sounds that indicated Katara, Aang, and _Momo_ seemed to be having similar difficulties. I coughed and hacked, trying to force air into my lungs _faster curse you!_ I was thrown onto the ground face first, I could feel that either Katara or Aang were right beside me, but I couldn't tell which was which.

"Who _cough_ who are you?" I tried to ask our ambushers. Is _that_ the right word for it? _Ambushers_?

They stayed silent, whoever they were. I could've burned my way through the ropes, but Katara and Aang were likewise held captive. With how fast we went down I wasn't counting on being able to free both of them without getting killed in the process. Hopefully they hadn't realized I was a fire bender.

From the way a solid knee had given me a new bruise to contemplate I wasn't placing any bets. They didn't hit Aang or Katara like that.

They tied us together at some pole, good enough for me. I swear if these guys so much as _touched_ Katara I was going to _breathe fire!_

"Well, you three have some explaining to do." It was an older man, maybe their leader or village elder.

"And if you don't answer our questions, we'll throw you back to the Unagi." Why do I get the feeling the Unagi isn't the colorful elephant-koi?

"Show yourselves, cowards!" I curse in the general direction of the second, female, voice. A young woman with auburn hair rips off my blindfold.

They wear make-up similar to our tribe's war make-up. It was mostly white, with red lipstick and eye-liner. Our ambushers were a group of women in bulky dresses. Well, at least now I know who I want to burn.

"You're the ones who attacked us?" I ask just to be sure. "At least now I know who to brain in the head with a boomerang." I grumble in distaste.

"Do you see any other warriors? Answer our questions! Who are you and what are you doing here, _Fire Nation!_" They knew. They already _knew!_ What gave it away? My eyes, golden as the sun or the heart of a fire? My skin, a pale contrast to my sister's copper sheen?

"I'm _Water Tribe._" I manage to growl out. I'm straining at the ropes, I can feel my inner fire growing, about to blaze out of all control.

_In for five, hold for two, out for five!_

"Regardless of your lies, Kyoshi has managed to stay out of the war thus far, and we would like to _keep_ it that way." I guess he wasn't the warriors' leader, just the village elder then. Not that it was much better. He probably had just as much say in whether we lived or died as the girl with the fancy headdress.

"We do not tolerate Fire Nation _spies._" I really do growl this time and I have to count my breath again twice before I trust myself not to hiss fire.

The auburn leader is in front of me. "The Unagi will eat well tonight." She stated, clutching the front of my parka. This is the perfect range, just one short blast of fire into her face, then burn the ropes, get free and get _away._

"Did you say _Kyoshi?_ I _know_ Kyoshi!" Aang surprises me enough that I'm able to pull back from the pull of my inner fire and I give him an incredulous look.

"Ha!" The old man barks. "Our founder Kyoshi died over four hundred years ago! How could you have possibly known her?"

"I know her because I'm the Avatar." I try to kick him in the shin but unfortunately the curve of this damn pole protects him.

"Don't lie! The last Avatar was an Air Nomad who disappeared a hundred years ago!" Oh that poor, poor girl. I almost felt sympathetic.

You know, almost. I still kind of wanted to hit her with my boomerang.

"Yep, that's me!" He says cheerfully, completely ignoring my attempts to glue his mouth shut through force of will alone.

"Throw the spies to the Unagi." I figured this would be my best chance to get us free. I took a deep breath and got ready in case one of them thought to knee me in the gut again.

"Aang, do some airbending!" My sister hissed from my left side. Aang blows a gust from his mouth that sends him flying, breaks the ropes, and takes him up and over the statue of Kiyoshi at the top of the pole. Which reminds me, she really does look like that Earth Kingdom woman in the Air Temple sanctuary.

How long do Avatars live, exactly?

Before we knew it we'd been escorted to their elder's mansion. It looked like a mansion to me anyway, I've never seen anything bigger than our main igloo before. They set out some low tables and started bringing in food I didn't recognize, assuring Aang when he asked that all of them were vegetarian friendly. As if things couldn't get any worse.

"Sukka, what are you waiting for?" Aang asked me as I hesitated, putting my head out the door just to make sure no one was lingering.

"I don't like it here." I growl, still pretty steamed about earlier. I do swipe some cakes from the table though before I head off.

I've never tasted anything so wonderful before. And so soft it almost melted in my mouth! Even with seal jerky I had to chew for thirty minutes before I could swallow, but this was amazing!

"Darn, they're delicious." I cursed once I had eaten every last crumb. I was half tempted to go back to the mansion and swipe more, possibly convince Katara the cakes were vital supplies. I held back though.

It wasn't my _original_ intention to go find the dojo where the Kyoshi Warriors trained. I didn't really want to go anywhere near people who _knew_ I was part Fire Nation, better to just avoid them until we could leave. I just asked one of the villagers (The one who frothed at the mouth when Aang did his airbending thing) where I could get some training in.

As soon as I realized what I had unwittingly stumbled on to I tried to retreat. Unfortunately I had already been seen.

"Well, look who's here." Inwardly I cursed the frothing mouth man. Outwardly, I turned back around and tried to look like I _hadn't_ been about to start running in the opposite direction.

"Sorry for intruding, I was told I could train up here." I tried to bow out but the auburn leader approached me.

"Why don't you join us?" And let you kick my butt twice in one day? No thanks, I'd rather go find a quiet place and nurse what's left of my warrior's pride.

Like the idiot I am, I followed her back inside.

"My name's Suki by the way." Nice to have a name for someone who would like to feed me to a giant sea snake.

"Sukka." I nod in respect before I lunge, fast as the zebra-seal, no bending. She grabs my forearm and drags me forward, forces me to overcorrect and when I try to regain my balance she begins sweeping me around. I try to take advantage of this by twisting myself closer, with just hand-to-hand though there's little I can do but disconnect myself and separate. She could've followed me if she wanted to, she was just making a point.

_No Fire Nation scum is going to beat us, you're way out of your league._ I had to admit, this was a new feeling. Back at home the closest parallel is when some of the women would brag about their weaving or something where I'd be sure to hear. I think that was less _Fire Nation_ and more _Female Warrior_ though.

But that didn't have the same level of animosity. The women didn't always approve of my chosen path, but they didn't begrudge the meat I brought in. I was the figurative "man" of the tribe with the men off at war, for all intents and purposes, I was sexless. If anything the bragging thing was probably about me shirking my more feminine chores in lieu of bringing in the fish.

"I expected more of a challenge from the Fire Nation." I hated the way she called me that.

"I am Sukka, of the Southern Water Tribes." I manage to spit the words without the fire, but only barely.

"We've _seen_ Fire Nation before." Suki pointed out to me. I glance out of the corner of my eyes at the five other girls who'd been using the dojo. "We know those golden eyes."

I do some really stupid stuff when I'm angry. I fight with Katara, stomp off on my own, fight master firebenders, you name it. Which probably explains me igniting my hand and holding it out, like I'm offering one of those cakes from earlier rather than super-heated death.

"You're a _firebender!_" To her record, she didn't look so much scared as unpleasantly surprised. I douse the flame.

"I'm _half_ Fire Nation." I emphasize before leaving the dojo. The fire inside me wants to escape, wants to _burnthemburnthem!_ But I hold off.

I go back to the beach and I throw myself into the moves. Jabs, punches, a low kick followed by a high round-house kick, sweep the leg, twist, thrust my club into the sternum of _this enemy_ turn and block a high strike from _that one._

"You _do_ have some moves." I flinch, honestly, as though expecting those golden fans to come flying out at me. I wait for the attack, words of weapons. "I wondered after seeing that twisting move you pulled in the dojo."

"Is there anywhere on this island I can get away from you?" I ask curiously. She is _so_ not helping my temper management problem.

"I'm sorry about what I said." It's enough to startle me out of my stance and nearly drop my club. "I should've realized," She breaks off meaningfully and I look away. Is that how it's going to be? Treated like a monster until they find out the truth, and then pitied, like an abandoned pup. I think I'd rather go back to being a monster.

"Who taught you?" She asks, changing the topic even more swiftly then my sister.

"My dad, before he left with the other men." She looks confused for a second, like she wants me to explain which dad I mean but doesn't want to ask.

Maybe I still feel a little bitter. I don't elaborate.

"Would you like to come back to the dojo? I could show you some moves that _won't_ leave you utterly helpless without your weapons or bending." I think my eyebrow twitches at the helpless comment, and I'm not even sure what she means by bending since as far as I know even polar winters only lessen the strength to barely lighting a fire.

"Of course, you'd have to follow _all_ of our traditions." She adds. I bite my lip and can feel my fingers turning white with the force I use to grip my club. I do want to learn, I want to be able to fight _without_ my bending.

"I guess." We'll only be here for a few days right?

"How do you fight in this thing?" I'm weighed down by their traditional battle armor, which includes a dress and make-up. That last part wasn't that bad, it reminded me of the tribal war-paint, just different colors and design. Suki was pleasantly surprised when I knew how to apply it by myself.

The dress though, the dress was going to kill me.

"It's a warrior's uniform, you should feel honored." She scolded me lightheartedly, but also carefully, probing. She was trying to find the door to my igloo while blind in a blizzard.

"The silk threads represent the brave blood that flows through our veins, the gold insignia is our honor." She explained. I straightened and counted a breath.

"Bravery and honor." I repeated, taking the first stance she showed me. Despite the sheer _amount_ of _skirt_ of the uniform it was surprisingly easy to move in. Once, you know, you weren't about to be dragged to the ground by the heavy armor.

"Wow, you actually look like a _girl_ Sukka!" I feel my blood freeze and I turn to the door.

"Aang, get your scrawny airbending butt back over here so I can kick it!" I yelled after him, half a mind to stomp through the village until I find him. Suki puts a hand on my shoulder to restrain me.

"Calm down." She chides me. I count out two more breaths.

She runs me through the moves. The style reminds me a little of what Katara tries to do when I see her practicing her own bending. I'm clumsy, the armor makes me overcorrect more times than I really care to remember. The fans aren't as familiar as my other weapons. I wonder if I could substitute with my club or scimitar?

"You're not going to master it in a day." She warned once I had found a rhythm that worked for me.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this." I muttered as I threw myself into another spin. Unfortunately I wasn't keeping a firm enough grip on the fan, and it sort of went flying out the door and hit a tree hard enough to cause a small avalanche.

"It isn't about strength." Suki giggled. "Loosen up, think of the fan as an extension of your arm." I didn't like working with the fan though, it was too different from anything else I trained with. "Find an opening and-"

"Strike!" I weaved in under her arm and gave her a good shove. I can't tell you how good it felt to knock her charity-giving butt down!

For a minute, stunned silence. And then I ruined it by laughing.

"I fell on purpose to make you feel better!" She snapped at me, climbing to her feet to stare me down.

"I got you! Admit it!" I choked, trying to stop the sudden flood of laughter. It's like a dam, I hold it back and I keep holding it until I find something that just gives me the giggles.

She managed to cut my little fit in half by grabbing my middle finger and bending it back until it touched my wrist.

"OW!" I yelped, trying to pull away but unable to move without fear of her actually breaking my finger.

"Okay, it was a lucky shot." She conceded, releasing me from her death grip. I cradled the hand close to my chest and glared at her, the make-up probably completely ruined the affect though. If I was wearing my _tribal_ paint I bet I would've looked fierce.

"Let's see if you can do it again." She began to circle me, one of her fans out and me without any weapons. Oh well, I wasn't doing much good with them anyway.

I didn't manage to knock her down, but I did manage to avoid _being_ knocked down. I don't think she's fought many self-trained firebenders, she kept thinking I'd dodge right into her grip or something. I did a lot of blocking. I'm just glad she was careful not to slice me with the razor edges of her fan.

"Girls, come quickly! Fire Nation on our shore!" The elder runs up. I don't hesitate, if the Fire Nation is here then that means Aang, and to a lesser extent, my sister, are in trouble. Suki directs me to follow the other warriors up onto the roof, taking the high ground sounds like a good idea.

They're riding two per Komodo-dragon. The ones with the skull plates are fire benders, I remember that very well, I'm still nursing a few minor burns. The ones with spears are ordinary men though, and once the initial assault knocks out the benders it's easy to follow the Kyoshi Warriors' lead to take out the spearmen.

Suki goes straight for the leader, and doesn't it just figure that it's everybody favorite pain in the royal backside?

I automatically reach for a boomerang that isn't there. Suki wouldn't let me wear it with the uniform. I bet she's regretting it now that she's being held at blast point.

I don't even have to bend in order to cut apart the blast. The fan redirects it for me, helping me save Suki from getting turned into jerky.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say training's done?" I smirk at her. Another Kyoshi warrior knocks Zuko off his high horse and the three of us edge closer.

The move he uses to knock us down looks incredibly flashy. I take a hit the second go around and hit my head. Funny, I could've sworn the Sun hadn't set yet but the stars are out, and moving. I didn't know stars moved.

Suki drags me to my feet and behind one of the houses. A few of the warriors buy us time so I can recover from the hit to the head I took. My skull throbs and I mentally curse Zuko's little dance moves. I'll have to look out for that next time.

And you know, despite this only being the second time we've run into him, I have the very strong feeling that there _will_ be a next time.

"I just saw Aang going to get Appa, looks like you guys will be leading them away." She informed me. When did _that_ happen? How hard did I hit my head?

"There's no time for good byes." She stands up but I grab her wrist. There's something I want to say.

"What about Thank You?" She looks stunned. What? I can _totally_ do the grateful thing!

"Even with my heritage, you took the time to train me. It means a lot to me." I don't usually get so mushy, but nobody has ever trained me like this before. She didn't do it out of pity, she didn't do it out of a sense of responsibility, it was almost like having a friend.

"It was nothing, I'm sorry for judging you. Now get moving, we'll hold them off!" She ran off to join the other warriors. I got up and ran to Appa.

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang whipped the reins and Appa flew into the air. I noticed that the firebenders were following us now, rushing back to their ship.

"You did the right thing Aang, Zuko would've destroyed the whole village if we'd stayed!" Katara tried to cheer up our resident air-headed twit. I started wiping off the make-up. "AANG!"

"He just jumped off the bison, didn't he?" I groan, belatedly looking over the edge just in time to see him hit the water. It came as no surprise to me when he came back up riding the Unagi and forcing it to douse the entire village. I think I'm getting used to him pulling off things I'd consider suicidal and insane.

Appa managed to catch him after he was thrown off and I leaned back to enjoy the show. The last time someone did something that stupid, Katara bended the water around their feet into ice so they went slip-sliding every time they moved. Kontaq learned it was wiser not to provoke wild polar bear-dogs.

"I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous." He admitted once he had climbed back into the saddle with us.

"Yes, it was." She tackle-hugged him. I sighed and rolled my eyes, utterly disappointed. She could've at least hit him over the head, I'd be fine with that.

We landed sometime in the afternoon, Aang said he had something he really wanted to show us. I just hoped that it didn't involve riding anymore wild animals. I was a little tired of him landing on top of me.

"I give you the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" He gestured behind him, over the ridge to the biggest city I've ever seen.

"Whoa." Katara gasped. "We don't have cities like this in the South Pole."

"They don't melt." I say in admiration. I had managed to change back into my regular clothes while Aang was driving. Changing clothes while on a flying bison is not something I would recommend. Especially with a boy on board.

"Well come on! Wait until you see what's inside!" He laughed, about to take off without us. I gave a firm look to my sister and she pouted before going after him.

"Wait Aang!" She stopped him. "It might be dangerous to reveal that you're the Avatar. You need a disguise." We'd had this little chat in the back of the bison. No need to recreate the Kyoshi experience after all.

"What do you want me to do? Grow a mustache?" He quizzed us. Fortunately I already had a plan. I beckoned him forward and started combing some of Appa's fur to get what he shed.

"Hold still." I ordered before attaching a piece for a sizeable mustache over his lip. Next I took a length of rope and started tying some longer fur for a wig. I had to make a couple adjustments because Momo decided Aang's new wig made the best bed ever and wouldn't be removed. I huffed and finished tying the knot.

"Ugh, this is so itchy!" He complained, looking at his bison askance. "How can you live in this stuff?" Funny, I asked something very similar of Suki earlier.

"Well, now you look just like our grandpa." Gramp-gramp died when I was really little. I don't really remember much about him other than the fact he actually came from the Earth Kingdom.

"Well, technically he _is_ 112 years old." Katara reminded me. My brows came together as I considered that, and his crush on Katara. Did that count as _cradle-robbing?!_

"Let's get a move on you whippersnappers!" He laughed at us with a fake accent. I groaned and tried to wipe the disturbing mental images from my brain.

"You guys will love it here!" He promised as we began walking up the bridge towards the gate. "I used to visit all the time to see my friend Bumi!" I winced and was silently grateful to be walking just enough behind Katara that she didn't notice. I didn't like being reminded that everyone Aang knew is dust and gone now.

"And the people here are the friendliest in the world!" This he says while we watch a guard completely decimate some poor guy's cabbage cart. "Just keep smiling." I quietly sigh and try to keep my head down, praying nobody notices how unwrinkled Aang is or that I have golden eyes.

"State your business!" The same guard ordered us, heaving a giant rock and levitating it over Aang. I yelped and immediately moved forward to pull him back.

"Get your hands off me whippersnapper! I'll have you know I was facing upstart guards like this before you were even in diapers!" He lectured me, wagging his finger and giving off a pretty good impression of an old man lecturing his granddaughter.

"Easy there old timer, just tell me your name." The guard tried to placate him.

"Bonzu Pippinpaddleopskicopolis, the third!" I just barely restrained the groan at his idea of a last name. "And these are my granddaughters," Katara walked up and I followed behind.

"Hi, June Pippinpaddleopskicopolis, nice to meet you." She greeted them politely.

"I'm April." There was no way I was going to be able to restate that ridiculous last name.

"You girls look responsible, keep your grandfather out of trouble, enjoy Omashu." I can't believe that actually worked! "Hold on a second." A strong hand settled on my shoulder and I stiffened. I knew that was too easy. Here's the part where I get sent careening off the mountain!

"You dropped this." I accepted the spindle of blue thread from the guard, mumbled my thanks, and jogged to catch up with Aang and Katara.


	6. Fire Break

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 6: Fire Break

"There's no way I'm getting inside that thing." Aang and Katara were already squatting in one of the stone crates, at the highest point of the Omashu delivery system. As impressive as this place is, somehow I don't think it's up to the challenge of three teenagers taking a wild ride.

There's that, and the fact that despite riding a ten ton flying bison I can't get over the fact that there is a very vast amount of distance between me and solid ground. I need not traverse that distance at speeds greater than a light jog if the situation doesn't require it.

"Aw come on, you're not _scared_ are you?" Katara taunted me. I folded my arms and gave her a stern look. _I absolutely refuse to be in any way associated with your brand of insanity, please allow me to sulk in peace._

"Well, I guess we'll meet you at the bottom then!" Aang grinned. It galled me to leave my little sister with _any_ male old enough to appreciate her looks, but there are just some lines that I dare not cross. Besides, I think Katara is still firmly of the opinion that guys lack necessary brain cells and, more importantly, that Aang is a kid.

As soon as they were off I began making my way down again. Omashu was really pretty nice once you got over the sheer number of people. Merchants called to me, offering special deals, kids ran down the streets laughing and playing, women gossiped at corners. I didn't even stick out all that much. Black hair wasn't rare here, lots of people had it, and some very well-dressed ladies were rather pale.

No one got close enough to see the eyes.

I did try to keep an eye on Aang and Katara's progress, but at some point the buildings blocked my view. I huffed and decided to take the highway. There were too many people on the streets for me to get to the bottom quickly.

The roofs were all plenty close enough for me to jump the distances. The extra height allowed me to relocate my sister and the boy who had a crush on her.

They were both flying through the air.

Without Appa.

Or Aang's glider.

"_Monkeyfeathers!_" I cursed and started running. There was no way I could possibly catch up in time, they were already falling!

Aang saved them both with some quick bending. I would've sighed in relief but I was too busy following their trail of destruction. Hopefully I could get to them before the guards did. With this much damage I had a bad feeling we weren't going to get off with a slap on the wrist.

"You _pant_ stupid little _twit!_ _Pant_" I finally caught up to them just as the guards arrived. I looked at them and tried my best to sound patient and reasonable. You can imagine how hard that is after a terrified sprint across rooftops and gaining a very strong urge to smash my boomerang into Aang's skull to see if it was hollow.

"Please officers, my sister and her friend are just kids, can't you let them off with a warning? I swear I won't let them do something like this again!" I pleaded. Please don't get arrested. Please don't get arrested.

"Hey, I thought this guy was your _grandfather_!" Well, that stings. That's one of the men from the city gates.

"April and June Pippinpaddleopopskicopolis, _huh?_" Wow, I have to admit, I'm impressed he was able to remember that name.

Aang, my vengeance will be swift, this I swear.

"I think we need to see the king on this one." The first guard sighed. I sent a glare at my sister and her friend, letting them know precisely who I blamed for this predicament.

We were made to kneel in a fancy throne room. Everything here was either green or purple, which seemed weird to me. Purple is usually a Water Tribe color.

"Sire, these juveniles are charged with traveling under false pretenses, vandalism, and malicious destruction of cabbage." I eyed the merchant who'd followed us up here. He looked exactly like the guy who'd been denied entry right before we arrived. Does anyone else notice this?

"Off with their heads!" He shouted encouragements to the aged king. "One for each head of cabbage." There's just something wrong about that guy. I can't put my finger on it.

"Hmm." I inspected the man on the throne. The years had not been kind. He had liver spots and bags under his eyes and had the look of man with midnight sun madness. It was a look that told me _he hadn't so much as realized he was insane as invited his insanity in for a cup of tea and a talk about the weather._

"Throw them," I swallowed any fear lingering in my body, waiting for judgment so I could think of a plan to get us out of here. "A feast!" I like the way this king thinks.

Oh yeah, someone needs to be wrapped in warm furs and put in front of a fire, and it isn't me.

"I hope you like the meat, my people have been getting fat from too many feasts!" The old king joked. At least, I assume he is joking. I could've spared the poor guy some time and told him Aang's a vegetarian, but nobody asked me.

"Actually I don't eat meat." Aang nervously informs him. The old king chuckles and turns to me. I nervously move so I'm sitting on the very edge of my seat, about as physically far away from him as I can get without being totally insulting.

"What about you? I bet you like meat!" He laughs as he nearly chokes me with a chicken-pig leg. I cough and manage to hack it up. Darn, everything here is delicious. These guys are going to spoil me for simple fish and sea weed.

"So, young bald one, where are you from?" He asks once he's taken his seat at the head of the table. Eating at a table is so weird. All my life I ate on the floor, and now I'm at a fancy table and trying to eat as much good food as I can because I don't know if this old guy is the kind of crazy that includes violent mood swings.

"I-I'm from, uh, Kangaroo Island." I kick him under the table. There is a benefit to eating like this, I don't think anyone else noticed.

"Kangaroo Island, eh?" The king repeats, obviously suspicious. He leans forward. "I hear that place is really _hopping!_" For a blessed minute, stunned silence.

And then I choke on a giggle. Excuse me if I have a fondness for puns. Forgive me for being a little hysterical at being around royalty and trying to keep my sister and her friend from getting barbequed.

"_Yawn,_ all these jokes are making me tired. Perhaps I should get some rest." I'm just one second too late to burn the projectile. Luckily I don't actually flare, since not only did Aang catch it with some bending, it was only another chicken-pig leg. Aang gulps and puts his arms behind his back, as though he _hadn't_ magically made perfectly good meat defy gravity.

"There's an airbender in our midst." The king announces. It gets worse, trust me. "And not just any airbender, the _Avatar._" See? Didn't I tell you?

"Alright, you caught me." I send a glare at the little airheaded _twit's_ head. "I'm the Avatar, doing my Avatar thing, and keeping the world safe. No Fire Nation soldiers here!" He jokingly checks under the table and slowly leads us back towards the exit.

"Love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears!" He advises just before our way is blocked. I have the intense urge to _burn_ the darn things but restrain myself. We're already in trouble, no need to add the spy charge against myself.

"You can't lock us away here! Let us leave!" My sister demands. I wish I was standing next to her so I could kick her.

"Lettuce leaf?" The king asks, sounding honestly puzzled as he begins chewing on a leaf.

"We're doomed." I declare. "This guy's nuts." I wonder if the people here realize their king is crazy? That seems awfully important to me.

The guards don't _look_ surprised at their king's whims.

"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges, but for now the guards will lead you to your room." He ordered. The guy standing next to him leaned in.

"Um Sire? Do you mean the good chamber of the bad chamber?" They have different chambers?

"The one that used to be the bad chamber before the recent refurbishing." The king explained. "We really _should_ consider numbering them." He shook his head and looked at us, he seemed to make a sudden effort to actually _appear_ kingly.

"Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!" I can feel my eye twitching. Omashu is crazy, the king is crazy, and the people are crazy. There must be something in the water here.

"This is a prison cell? It looks so nice!" Katara commented once the guards had left. Even I had to admit the place wasn't half bad. It sure didn't _feel_ like a cell, for all there were no doors.

"He _did_ say it was newly refurbished." And I suppose that makes it alright.

"That doesn't change the fact that we're prisoners Aang." I sighed, stepping further into the room.

"I wonder what these challenges are going to be." He said nervously, clutching his air staff.

"We shouldn't stick around to find out." Katara said gently. "There has to be some way out of this." I have an idea. Aang's the Avatar, right? So he should know some earthbending. He can just bust us out, we go find Appa and we're on our merry way.

"Do you know any earthbending?" I ask him.

"Nope, but I bet we could use those air vents!" He gestured up at the holes in the walls. Katara and I shared a look. _You tell him, _No, you, _Fine I'll do it!_

"If you think we're fitting through one of those you're crazier than that king." I state bluntly.

"We can't, but Momo can!" I had my doubts. Doubts which proved to be justified once Momo got stuck.

"Come on buddy, go find Appa!" Aang grunted, trying to force his pet through the tiny tunnel.

"How exactly is Appa supposed to help us?" I flop down onto one of the beds. It is the comfiest thing I have ever laid down on.

"He's a ten ton flying bison, I'm sure he could think of _something!_" Aang retorted. We had no clue as to how deep underground we are, or even in what direction we are. How is Appa supposed to find us again?

Besides, it would be a sad day when I have to rely on that ten ton magical snot monster to bust me out of prison. Even a very _nice_ prison.

"Let's just get some rest, Aang." Katara sighed, maybe recognizing my mood. "You'll need it for those challenges tomorrow."

**Temporary POV change! Katara!**

I wake up when my bed suddenly falls through the floor. I can hear Sukka's surprised shout and can feel the heat that tells me she's thrown a fireball. I get up and try to fight off the guard who grabs me but grow still when I feel his spear point under my chin.

"Let. My sister. Go." Sometimes, I forget that Sukka is very protective of me. I forget how often she's chased away older boys or carried me home through blizzards or lied by my side, warming me up through long winter nights.

This is not one of those times.

There's a legend in our tribe, well there are a lot of legends but I'm talking about the story of the mother who returned from picking snow berries to find a polar-leopard looming over her baby. It's said that she gave the leopard an ultimatum. Either the leopard spared her baby and left in peace, or she would hunt it to the very ends of the Earth to get her vengeance.

The leopard didn't listen, and ran off with the baby with the intention of mocking the Brave Mother. The woman was a true female warrior of the tribe though, and tracked it back to its lair where she found the leopard again, and saved her child. She took the Leopard's strength and passed it to her children.

Gran-Gran told me that the Brave Mother was the first female warrior of the Southern Water Tribe. If that's true, then I believe she must have passed down her bravery to each and every warrior woman after her. All the way down to my brave big sister.

"You two are coming with us." The guards had been surprised when Sukka had used her bending, she probably could've held these guys off.

But Sukka's pale gold eyes bored into the man holding me hostage, and the fires in her hands died.

"Where are you taking us?" She tried to ask. The guard cuffed her ear and she _growled. _I could read in her eyes her desire to throw sparks at them and win us free, but she just took a deep breath and kept walking.

They put us in another room, this one bare of any furniture, and leave us alone for what feels like hours.

"Did they hurt you?" Sukka helps me stand back up after the guard pushed me down. She'd gotten worse. Her guard actually _punched_ her to make her fall.

It's always been like that, for as long as I can remember. My sister is treated differently because of her skin, her eyes, her _bending._ Among our tribe it wasn't too bad, the kids flinched when she was visibly angry, the women would stand idle nearby when Sukka played with the boys.

Sukka got sent away when they told us stories. No one ever talked about _Sukka_ becoming chief someday. No one was worried if she stayed out late, or hadn't returned from a hunting trip on the day she said she would. No one expected Sukka to be anything but the village's protector.

Not even Sukka.

"I'm fine." I casually dismiss her concern before I run my fingers over her jaw, making sure it isn't broken. It might bruise, but she's had worse.

Sukka turned golden eyes on me, no longer frigid and pale but warm and comforting. Everyone looked at those eyes and only ever saw her anger, at the world, the spirits, and the Fire Nation. No one ever saw how her eyes grew so warm and inviting.

"He only did that because I bended, it's no big deal." She always knows what I'm thinking about. When I was little I used to think having golden eyes let you read people's minds.

"It _is_ a big deal! They treat you like that even though you were only defending yourself! Even though you're the _Avatar's_ friends!" I argued. Inwardly I wince, this reminds me too much of some of the blow outs we've had.

_You're my brave big sister, no one should have the right to treat you like that. _If I thought it might help I'd say it, but already Sukka's pulling away from me and inspecting this new cell, trying to find a way to escape.

Does she want to escape the cell? Or does she want to escape _me?_

**POV Switch back! Sukka!**

When the guards come back for us I seriously consider burning them, but I have no idea how to find Aang and he's kind of the priority. As it is, I make sure to remind them of what I am. At least when they're gunning for me, they aren't gunning for Katara.

These two guards are different from the ones who first tossed us in here. They don't do anything either, they're stone cold professional. They each keep a firm grip on one of our arms and lead us down another passage. We open up back in the throne room.

Omashu's king is wearing the most ridiculous clothes I've ever seen. It's so distracting that I nearly don't notice when the guards force a purple ring of rock around one of my fingers.

"That's Jenna-mite, otherwise known as creeping crystal. By nightfall it will have completely enveloped your two friends here." The king informs Aang. I growl and try to pull the annoying thing off.

"Terrible fate, I can stop it, but you'll have to cooperate." I wanted to take his feathery crown and beat him with it. Is everyone in Omashu insane?

"I'll do it." And of course the little airheaded twit agrees.

We're transported to this giant underground cavern with stalagmites, stalactites, and a huge waterfall. By the time we get there the crystal has already covered our hands. Nothing I've tried breaks the darn thing. I've even tried _burning_ it, which just made it smell bad. Who knew burnt rocks would stink so badly?

"It seems I've lost my lunch box key and I'm hungry!" The king taunted Aang. "Oh, _there_ it is! Would you fetch it for me?" He points at the waterfall. There was a ladder and a chain, where I could just barely see the key dangling.

Aang tried to climb up the ladder, which earned him some more taunting because the waterfall was far too powerful for him to do that. He got knocked back out of the waterfall and nearly got himself neutered by the stalagmites. Or stalactites. I don't know which are which.

"Come on, Aang." Katara whispered beside me. I tried to flex the hand that was encased in crystal. I could barely get it to twitch.

Next he tried to launch himself through the waterfall from higher up, that didn't work either. By the time Aang managed to launch a giant pointy rock at the chain with some airbending, the crystal had already travelled up to my shoulder. The rock spear stuck in the wall and the chain dangled directly in front of the old king.

"There's your stupid key, now return my friends!" Aang demanded.

"Not just yet. It seems I have another problem I need your help with!" I swear he's laughing on the inside. "I can't seem to find my pet Flopsie!" That poor, poor animal. I'd run away too if I belonged to a madman.

We were brought to a large arena, it was the first time I'd seen the Sun today. I took a silent moment to just enjoy the noon time sun, despite the fact that the crystal had encased my body more and more. It felt nice to just stand there and let the Sun's rays shine on me.

_In for five, hold for two, out for five. In for five, hold for two, out for five._

I felt better after that and was able to focus on Aang being chased by a giant Gorilla-Goat while he tried to catch Flopsie the Bunny.

When I found out that _Flopsie_ was actually the Gorilla-Goat I couldn't help but think it fit. Who else would tame a giant monster like that and keep it for a pet? I shook my head at the king crooning to his beloved pet to pay attention to Aang before we got dragged off to the next challenge.

"Other than the crystals slowly encasing my body? Doing great!" Sometimes I think I rub off _too _much on Katara.

Another giant piece of crystal grew out, on the right side of my body too so it unbalanced me. For a minute I wobbled, trying not to fall, and then I was on the ground.

"A little help here?" At least the crystal isn't heavy. Two guards had to work together to lift me back on my feet but once there I didn't have a problem adjusting so I wasn't falling over myself.

"Your final challenge is a duel, and as a special treat you can choose your opponent!" The king announced as two mercenary-looking guys came up on either side.

"So, I get to pick?" Aang asked uncertainly.

"Choose wisely." He warned. There was a moment of hesitation, everyone on the balcony seemed to hold their breath.

"I…choose….YOU!" He shouted, pointing at the king. The smile that came across the old man was not a _nice_ smile. It looked more like _Bwahaha, I can't believe he was so stupid now I get to bury him alive!_

"Wrong choice!" You wouldn't expect someone who looks like _that_ to actually be totally buff. There's just something in our brains that says liver spots, wrinkles, and a balding head means he has to be a frail old man. It goes against the laws of the universe for that guy to actually be buff under his completely ridiculous robes.

The guard returned Aang's staff and then the fight was on. Aang did a lot of dodging at first before the king taunted him a little, trying to get him to fight back. Nothing Aang did seemed to work though. At least we got to see a little Earthbending. Now I've seen a bit of every element.

Man, that kid is one seriously powerful bender. It was hard to keep it in perspective sometimes. It really drives the whole Avatar point home though when Aang's able to create a tornado in just a few minutes and throw back a giant balcony.

The fact that the stupid old king isn't even fazed by this just irritates me. I've never seen _anything_ so amazing, and he just goes on with the fight like he sees master level airbending every other day of the week.

Okay, I'll admit it. Everything this guy does annoys me. It wouldn't be so bad if he hadn't taken Katara and me captive and forced Aang to do these stupid challenges. I bet I'd feel better if I could just hit him over the head, just once.

"You fight with a fire in your eyes, very good." The king praised Aang. It was a stalemate. The king had a giant rock levitating over Aang and Aang had him pinned with his staff. Although what Aang could really do with a staff was yet to be answered.

"You've faced down all my challenges, now all you have to do is answer one question." I nearly jumped out of the crystals when he burrowed through the ground and reappeared on the balcony in front of us.

"That's not fair!" Aang protested. "You said if I did your tests you'd set my friends free!"

"What's the point of a test if you don't learn anything?" The king snorted.

"Cheater!" I muttered in distaste. He's lucky the stupid crystal is crushing my lungs at the moment so I have to take short and fast breaths, otherwise I'd barbeque him here and now.

"Answer me this, young Avatar. What…" We waited with bated breath for his question. Would it be something incredibly wise and profound? Some great riddle that we'd agonize over? "Is my name?"

I keep forgetting this guy isn't playing with a full pai sho set. Why do I keep expecting him to follow the unspoken rules of the universe?

"From the looks of your friends you only have a few minutes!" He said cheerfully, walking away.

"How am I supposed to know his name?" Aang freaked out.

"Ask one of the guards!" I suggested. I tried to waddle around to find the guards who were supposed to be, well, guarding us. We were completely alone. "Well, I'm out of ideas."

"Think back to the tests, it must be some kind of riddle!" Katara encouraged. Where does she get this never ending fountain of optimism from?

"Well, none of them were straight forward. To solve them I had to think differently than I normally would." Aang muttered, thinking about it. His eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers. "I know his name!"

Back at the throne room I had to rely on Aang to lead me because the crystals had covered everything but my mouth and ankles. I hope he's right about the king's name, because otherwise I'm about to spend the rest of my very short life as a giant glowing crystal.

"I solved your question like I solved the challenges." Aang announced. "Like you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." When did he say that?

"Bumi, you're a mad genius!" I heard more than saw the tearful reunion of old friends. Let me put an emphasis on _old._ Aang told us his friend Bumi was twelve a hundred years ago, so that means that dear, sweet _King_ Bumi, is a hundred and twelve!

Admittedly, so is Aang, but Aang doesn't look it.

"Ah, Aang, you haven't changed a bit." Bumi sighed. "Literally."

"A little help here?" Katara interrupted.

"You two geezers can get back to reminiscing about the old days later!" I snapped.

There was a scary moment when I thought I had made King Bumi angry by calling him a geezer, the crystal started shaking, and then it flew off of me. It had shattered into a hundred little pieces. Beside me Katara stood, just as untouched as I did.

"Jenna-mite is made of rock candy! Delicious!" Bumi laughed, biting off a good piece.

Does he mean I could've _eaten_ my way out? I dipped forward and put a few pieces in my pocket.

"This guy is your old friend Bumi?" Katara asked, distracting everyone from me doing a little rock harvesting.

"Who're you calling old?" Bumi snapped. I looked up and shot him with a good _look._ "Okay, I'm old." He conceded.

"Why couldn't you just tell Aang who you were?" I questioned once I had straightened out again.

"For one thing, it's fun messing with people." I resisted the urge to pelt him with rock candy. "But I _do_ have a good reason," He turned back to Aang.

"Aang, a hundred years have come and gone. The world is a very different place and many of those you knew have departed from this world." He said gravely, giving Aang a significant _look._ "Many, but not all of them."

"You must continue your quest, and master all four elements before you can face Fire Lord Ozai." He set a withered hand on his young friend. "And when you do face him, I hope you think like a mad genius."

Well, I don't hope so. Dealing with Aang is hard enough without him catching Midnight Sun Madness.

"I believe you're in good hands to accomplish that," Bumi smiled at us. I huffed and crossed my arms, still not forgiving him for nearly having me and my sister crushed by rock _candy._ "You'll need Momo too." He added as the lemur bounded onto Aang's shoulders.

"Thank you for your wisdom." Aang said. "But before we leave, _I_ have a challenge for _you!_"

I groaned and shook my head as Aang and Bumi came barreling down the mail chutes of Omashu. Some days, it just isn't worth it to be sarcastic.

Right before we left, Aang drew us both aside. He said he had something to tell us.

"Back at the Southern Temple, Sukka found something that was left for me, and I think it's time I share it with you." I perked up once he mentioned that scroll.

"What is it?" Katara asked. Aang passed us the scroll and I unfurled it, eager to find out what had been written.

_This letter is the third copy of the original written by Monk Gyatso to his student Aang in the week before Sozin's comet. Hand copied by Dohna, of the Eastern Air Temple in the year 99 ASC._

_Aang, I don't know how long exactly it will be until you find this letter I'm leaving for you. I am sorry that I could not stop the Elder's judgment. By now you will have heard that all Air Nomads are gone now, wiped from this earth by the Fire Nation._

_I am writing to tell you that what you have heard, is a lie._

_I don't know how many, for how long, or even where, but I know that some of us _will_ survive. I hope you remember Dohna from the weeks we spent at the Eastern Temple when you were a child, learning how to care for Appa. She knows the Fire Nation plan to attack and she has tried to warn all of us but the Elders refused to listen._

_That will not stop her from saving as many lives as she can. She has promised me that she will leave this letter where you will find it. _

_By now, you know I am dead. I'm sorry my pupil, but I am an old man and if the Fire Nation find no defense waiting for them here then they will be convinced there is nothing here worth defending. None of this is your fault, my beloved student. _

_Aang, you are the Avatar, you must restore balance to the world. Dohna assures me that when the time comes you will have strong friends to stand beside you. I hope she is right._

_Remember that I have always loved you, and be brave my young pupil. _

"Oh, Aang." Katara wraps him in a warm hug. He hiccups for a moment before he clings to her. I can't even work up the energy to get upset about him clinging to my sister. If this letter is right, if this Dohna girl succeeded,

Then that means there might still be airbenders in the world.


	7. Raging Fire

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 7: Raging Fire.

We were all quiet as we flew off. We didn't even travel that far before we decided to camp for the night. I had to go hunting if we were going to have anything to eat for dinner. For the moment though I sat back and inspected my new hunting grounds.

The letter didn't change a whole lot about our quest. Our first priority was still getting to the North Pole so Aang and Katara can learn waterbending. It did raise a few questions though, like how this Dohna chick knew Aang would come back to the temple and find the scroll. Actually, Aang never went up to his room, so if it weren't for me we'd never know about the possible-survivors.

The thoughts crowded in my mind, until I started wondering how Gran-gran was doing at home. How many days had it been since we left the South Pole. Let's see, we stayed overnight near the temple, moved on and found Kyoshi island, then we moved on again and found Omashu, and now we're here a full day later. We've only been away from home for five days.

I actually sat up when I figured out the math. All that had happened, getting chased by Fire Nation princes, buried a bunch of air nomads, getting ambushed by Suki, the Unagi, _Omashu_, and it had only been _five_ days?

I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep any time soon, so I guess it was time to go hunting. The forest we had taken refuge in was utterly silent, and some early winter snow was still on the ground. Every living thing seemed to have burrowed underground. The trees were huge, stretching their leafy tops up to scrape against the sky. They had looked tiny from the seat of Appa's saddle.

I couldn't find a _single_ meat-creature! I was lucky to find some nuts and some sort of berries. They were small and round, blue with a very sweet taste. But the point is, of all the forests for us to land in we land in the one that's completely _dead?_

"I'm just a simple water tribe girl, trying to find some meat-creature, but _nooo._" I growled as I started back, knowing Katara and Aang would be getting hungry soon. "There's not a single edible thing in this forest. What, did all of them go into hibernation already?"

"You're back!" Aang greeted me with a whoop. I grunted and tossed him the bag of nuts and berries.

"There's _nothing_ in this forest." I complain, taking out my club so I can get a little practice in.

"You're telling me, you only brought nuts and berries, and some rocks that look like nuts." Katara shot back at me. I flapped my hand at her in a simple _You think you can do better?_ Sort of way.

I would've continued by saying something to no doubt reflect my foul mood except that there was large BOOM! For a minute I panicked, thinking I was experiencing one of those earthquakes our dad told us about. Funny thing is I had the impression they were continuous, not little bursts every few seconds.

"It's coming from over there!" I watched in confusion as my dear little sister and her friend started running towards the loud sound. Is _everyone _lacking common sense but me?

I groan loudly as I get up to follow them. If this ends up like Omashu I'm going to seriously consider murdering Aang and hiding his body, then going to the North Pole with Katara to help raise the _next_ Avatar. A water tribe avatar _had_ to be more sensible than this.

"Wow, an earthbender!" Aang stared in awe. I took a moment to study an earthbender who _wasn't_ attempting to kill us. His movements were all solid, they looked like even without the Earth he'd pack a mean punch. He pushed a boulder into the small riverbank wall, which caused another loud BOOM.

"Let's hang back, he could be dangerous." I advise, ready to tug Aang back before he can do something stupid. I don't realize that it's already too late until I reach for Katara and find out she's moved out of my reach.

"Hi there!" She calls down.

My sister, ladies and gentlemen.

I've never seen anyone pale that fast. He turned around and took off, performing some kind of skip that made a bunch of boulders form a new wall to keep us from following. I skidded down with Aang and watched a pool form at the base of the wall.

"I just wanted to say hi." Katara defended herself.

"That guy had to be running somewhere, I bet there's a village nearby!" Aang grinned. "And villages have markets!"

"Which means no nuts for dinner!" Katara cheered. Once again the two maniacs I have been charged with babysitting took off, leaving me to groan and follow them. Just once in my life, I think _I'd_ like to be the little sister for a change.

The village was thankfully a small one. I was really tired of being around dozens and dozens of people after living all my life with a population of twenty odd women and children. Aang ended up trading some nuts for a hat, which I thought was a pretty good idea, though I thought it was good because it hid the giant arrow on his head, not because it looked cool.

"Hey." Katara gasped and started walking towards one store in particular. I grabbed the back of Aang's shirt and started pulling him after me. We came in just in time to hear the boy deny to be the same one we saw earlier.

"No you're not, you're that earthbender kid." Aang argued. I must have blinked because one minute the door is open and I've barely got a foot over the threshold, and the next I've been tugged inside hard enough to nearly dislocate my shoulder and the window shutters have been slammed shut.

"They saw you _earthbending?_" The woman asked her son, spitting out the word as though it were some dreadful curse or sickness.

"They're lying, they're obviously crazy, just look at the way they dress!" We all awkwardly examined our clothing for bison snot.

"I take offense to that last part." I growl, crossing my arms over my tunic.

"You _know_ how dangerous that is! What if _they_ saw you earthbending?" She scolded, not paying any attention to her son's horrible manners.

There was a knock on the door, and a demand for entry. I put a finger to my lips and opened the blinds just enough to make out horrid red and black armor.

"Fire Nation, act natural." I ordered them, immediately moving to the fruit like a customer. I made a note to tell Aang and Katara that acting natural didn't mean they should stand directly in front of Fire Nation soldiers like that. I'm just glad no one's old enough to remember what Air Nomads look like.

"What do you want? I've already paid you this week!" The woman asked. It was easy to see all the hate in her eyes, it burned brighter than my fires. She didn't just hate these men on principle, for _her_ it was entirely personal.

"Tax just doubled, wouldn't want an accident, now would we?" He let his question hang in the air as he lifted up a small ball of fire. I clenched my fists to stop myself from ensnaring his fire and making it my own to force him back. It wouldn't help anyone if I started a fight in here.

The woman didn't put up a fight, although her eyes certainly hadn't banked the fires. She gave him a handful of coins from a nearly empty money box. He threw down the copper ones, the majority of it, in disgust and left again.

"How long have they been here?" I asked once the door was closed.

"Five years," She answers. "Fire Lord Ozai uses the coal from our mines to fuel his ships."

"They're thugs, they steal from us." Haru, I finally had a name for him now, muttered.

"Quiet Haru!" His mother ordered, obviously having some mysterious ability to hear the tiniest whisper of breath that came from her offspring's lips.

"But Haru's an earthbender, he can help!" Katara argued.

"Right, help and get his butt whooped." I sighed. "Katara, one guy _can't_ fight all those soldiers at once. You saw what happened to _me_, and they weren't expecting _my_ bending." I told her. Yeah, I pretty much got my blubber kicked.

"Well he could at least try! What can the Fire Nation do to them that they haven't done already?" She snapped at me, a shark with blood in the water.

"They could take Haru away, like they took his father." The woman cried. I bowed my head slightly in respect of her suffering. Our tribe lost much as well.

Eventually Haru led us to his family's farm, where we could spend the night in the barn. Aang made a promise not to let Appa eat all the hay, which I took to mean that there might be one bale left in the morning. I chose to use that bale for a bed.

Katara went on a "walk" with Haru, leaving me to grind my teeth in agitation. I didn't like leaving my baby sister to go off with a guy who was clearly old enough to appreciate her looks. If she wasn't back by sundown I was going to go out and _drag_ her back.

When she got back Katara told us all about how the two of them, especially Haru, had saved an old man from the collapsing mine tunnel. I twitched at the use of earthbending but reasoned to myself that it wasn't likely the old man would rat out someone from his own tribe. Haru and Katara were going to be fine, and even if Fire Nation people attacked us, well we still had my bending to surprise them with.

"Let's get some sleep, we're leaving at dawn." I suggest, getting comfortable in the straw.

"Dawn? Can't we sleep in for once?" Katara demands. I give her a look to remind her of my bending. I've _never_ been able to sleep in once the sun rose up.

"This place is crawling with Fire Nation, we are not hanging around." I declare with finality. I don't want to eat fireballs for breakfast.

"Fine." She sighs, blowing out the little lamp and lying down. I lie awake for a bit, until her breath evens out. I have a bad feeling about what happened at the mine. I hope Haru and his mother will be alright when we leave.

The morning sun dripped in through the high window and the gaps in the roofing. I soaked it up gratefully, meditating as I haven't been able to since leaving home. Aang was yawning, only now struggling upright. Katara caught his yawn as she climbed out of her sleeping bag.

"I'm going to get some water." She told me, carrying one of our jugs. I waved her off and started rolling up the bags so we could leave.

It was only a minute later when she ran back inside, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"He's gone! They came and took him away!" She cried from the doorway.

"Katara?" I shot up and pulled her closer to me. "What are you talking about? Who's gone?" I swear I must've been thick with sleep. I should've _realized_ it! I could've kicked myself when she started to explain.

"The Fire Nation came and took Haru, the old man told them all about his earthbending!" She was outraged. That's one of the funny things about her, most of the time when she's sad she's also angry.

"When did they take him?" I asked, trying to draw straight facts from her loopie-head.

"His mother said they came around midnight." She told me. I nearly flinched when I saw the _look_ she was giving me. It was the _my big sister can fix this, right_ look. The first time she gave me that look was the night after mom's funeral.

"_S-Sukka?" I froze in place and guiltily turned around to see Katara come out of the tent, following me. "Sukka, w-what's going to happen now? Is-is it _my_ fault mommy's dead?"_

"_No way, it's not your fault!" I protested, I wanted to hug her but I was so scared! What if I couldn't control the fire and I burned her on accident? I'm not supposed to touch people!_

"_T-Those Fire Nation people, _they_ did it!" They're _evil!_ Why were evil men allowed to come and take away our mommy? _

"_We-we're going to be just _fine_ Katara! We're going to be the bravest little girls in all of the Southern Water Tribe!" I declared quietly, I didn't want to wake up the whole village. Daddy especially needed his sleep, he had cried so much when mom died._

"_No matter what happens, we're going to be okay. I'm your big sister, it's my job to take care of you!" This time I carefully took her hand and led her inside. She was crying, everyone had been crying lately, even _I_ was crying and I was a big eight year old girl!_

"_I-I'm going to train to be a warrior Katara, and that way, next time those evil Fire Nation guys show up _I'll_ be strong enough to fight them! They won't come here and take away anyone else ever again!"_

I _fixed_ things, that's what I _do._ A net was broken? I'd sit for an afternoon to mend it. A difficult birth? I'd boil water and get warm cloths and talk a new mother through it. Were we short on food? I'd go out for weeks until I brought down something for the tribe to eat.

Dad left us all alone? Well, I'd fix that too by bringing Katara on fishing trips and talking to Gran-gran more to keep her from being lonely.

"Midnight, then they're trail's already gone cold." I cursed. "We need some way to figure out where they take earthbenders."

"I know the perfect way," Katara let out her own little growl, turning to look outside. I read the tightness of her shoulders and knew she must be glaring down at the village. "They're going to arrest me for earthbending."

"You know you're insane, right?" I had to give it a tiny shot at least. We went to the mine where we knew a patrol would go through and tried to think of a way to fake bending. I can't believe we're doing this. I _cannot_ believe I'm conspiring to get my baby sister _arrested!_

"You train your whole life to keep something from happening and _what_ happens?" I mutter beneath my breath. "She wants to inflict it on herself anyway."

"Help me roll this boulder onto that vent." I direct Katara and we manage to get it over the grating. "Just so you know, I still think you're insane, but at least the plan is relatively clever."

"Aang, do you remember your cue?" I question the little twit playing with the butterfly.

"Sure, sure," He waved me off, snapping his fingers to blow the butterfly around a bit. "Come on, you're sucking all the fun out of this!"

"Getting my baby sister arrested by ruthless Fire Nation thugs is your idea of a _good time?_" I swear he swallowed a bug with the expression he showed me. He gave a rueful laugh and stopped playing with the butterfly.

"Places everybody," I sighed once I saw the patrol.

"Look you _floozy,_ I'm telling you to keep your grimy mitts off my stuff!" I snapped loudly enough for them to hear. Katara got into the roll quickly, firing back just as fast.

"Yeah well, maybe _you_ should learn to pick up after yourself, you disgusting _slob_!" She snapped. I gave a loud, theatrical growl and ignited the palms of my hands with warm flames.

"So you want to settle this with a fight?" I shout at her.

"Yeah! _Earthbending_ _style!_" There was a strong WHOOSH of air that lifted the boulder up from the grate, levitating it to appear as though Katara's silly punch did it.

"The lemur, it's _earthbending_!" _Excuse_ me? How in the name of _Tui and La_ have the Fire Nation managed to take over almost the entire world?

"No you metal-head, the _girl!_" I snapped at him, forgetting that I'm supposed to be a properly-horrified Fire Nation citizen who just came across a "savage" earthbender.

"Oh, right," He coughed. "Of course." I rolled my eyes and leapt, getting Katara's hands and pulling them behind her back.

"I'll hold her!" I called first before whispering in her ears. "_You have twelve hours to find Haru, then we bust you out._"

I have to wonder if this is what Katara felt like when Zuko dragged me aboard his ship. I want nothing more than to sprint forward and _burn_ these men who _dare_ lay a finger on my sister! This is _wrong,_ Katara's not supposed to be taken away in chains! She's supposed to be free, and happy, growing up and learning waterbending just like she's always wanted to.

But at least _I_ know I'll be able to follow her, save her, bring her home again. Katara could never have been certain that she'd find me again when I was taken.

Aang and I follow at a distance, trying not to draw attention to ourselves as we watch them load onto a ship. A quick hop onto the waiting Appa and we're soaring above the clouds, following them just out of sight. Rather than resentful and violent, I feel strangely cold.

It's going to be absolute torture waiting for these twelve hours to be up. But I swear, if for even a moment I see those rats take Katara off alone then all bets are off.

I grip the stone of my necklace and burn back the panic. I refuse to let what happened to our mother happen to Katara. We have eleven hours left, I guess this time I don't have any excuse not to pray.

_Tui and La, if you'll hear me, please keep her safe!_

The hours pass slowly, and apparently it's impossible to remain completely focused for half a day. Honestly, Aang only lasted thirty minutes.

"Hey Sukka, where do you think a bunch of surviving Air Nomads would go?" He asked me around the five hour mark. He'd gotten in a nap and played with Momo for a while, I guess I should be glad about that. Just six more hours to go.

"Do I look like an Air Nomad? How am I supposed to know?" I groan, dropping from a meditation pose to flop down on my back.

"Gyatso said you knew this Dohna chick, who was she?" I ask for the sake of conversation. The boredom was killing me, by inches.

"I don't remember to well, I was really little, only six!" He started. He explained that all nomads got their bison when they turned six years old, and that bison were all raised at the Eastern Temple. Dohna was the bison shepherd who taught them how to brush out bison fur, clean out their toes, what to do if one of their bison got pregnant, things like that. Dohna also taught them how to _fly_ the baby bison.

"She was…_different_ from the other Older Sisters." I had gathered that Older Sister was a title for young nuns, which meant Older Brothers meant older little monks. And the Elders were old people, obviously.

"She was only two years older than me, but the way she acted it made her seem like an Elder." He paused then, I imagined he was picturing her in his mind. For him it was only six years since he'd last seen her, for us it was well over a hundred.

"I remember she'd come to the Southern Air Temple, which was almost _unheard_ of for girls! Girls _never_ came to our temples, not unless they were an Elder on important business, but she always came without her teacher!" I pricked my ears up at that. Dohna had been the one to leave the message, and copy it out whenever it got too old to make out.

"There was this boy a couple years older than me that she visited, they'd go off together all the time. I wonder where they went." I could imagine a couple of good, quiet places where a boy and a girl could go for some privacy.

"Bumi survived to be a hundred and twelve, do you think Dohna could've survived to be a hundred and _fourteen_?" He asked me with this big, hopeful grin. I inwardly groaned at his optimism, so similar to my sister's.

"Anything's possible I guess." I shrug and roll onto my side. We're sort of hovering in the cloud cover over the prison barge. It's an ugly slab of metal, smack dab in the middle of the ocean. Smoke spilled from the chimneys, warm and carrying the heat of a ceaseless flame somewhere out of sight. Appa didn't like hanging around the smoke, but it made me feel better to smell the fire I couldn't see.

"The world's really messed up, isn't it?" I was so shocked by his sudden down spiral that I nearly fell off the saddle. That would've been a very messy way to die.

"What's wrong?" I crawl over to where he's sitting on Appa's head.

"What you said, anything being possible." He reminded me. Oh no, if Katara finds out I made her adopted stuffed-toy upset she's going to kill me.

"A horrible war can start, an entire people die, a _firebender can be born in the South Pole_!" I wince. Come on, there's got to be a way I can fix this! Wait, I have a brilliant idea!

"You can survive being frozen in a giant ice berg, one girl a hundred years ago could stand up and save lives, my sister could be born a water bender when my tribe hasn't had one in almost fifty years." I list them off on my fingers. "Need I go on?"

He gave a short rueful laugh and I silently sighed in relief. I was going to go grey before my time with these optimistic idiots giving me heart attacks all the time. I should really give thought to adding someone _sane_ to the group.

"You know, you aren't as scary as you look sometimes!" He smiled at me.

Do I really look scary? I mean, I know the eyes are intimidating. And I've seen my reflection when I'm bending fire sometimes, that can be scary.

"I mean, most of the time you're grumpy and you act like you'd rather be anywhere else, but then you say something nice like that!" He tried to explain. I _would_ rather be anywhere else, actually.

I choose not to enlighten him to that, let him believe I'm here for the same reason as Katara, to save the whole World. The world's a big place, I'd be happy just keeping _my_ world in one piece, however small and scuffed it may be.

"How much longer until the twelve hours are up?" I groan again and flop back onto my back. "Sukka?" Some days it just isn't worth it to get up in the morning.

I send Aang to fetch Katara when we find a place Appa can hover at without being seen. I had been watching the patrols and figured we had thirty minutes before the next one walked by. We'd be gone by then if everything went okay.

I saw Aang come up with her and breathed another sigh of relief, which I notice I've been doing a lot lately. Katara didn't look hurt, her hair was still nice and tidy, her water tribe clothes were still on under her prison...what is that a potato-choke bag?

"Your twelve hours are up, where's Haru, we need to get moving!" I hissed up at them. We had about fifteen minutes now before the guards showed up.

Aang slid through the bars easy, Katara on the other hand…

"I'm not leaving yet." Why? Why do I have such a headstrong little sister? What did I do in a past life to deserve this? Did I kick an owl-kitten?

"Are you crazy? There's guards everywhere!" I hiss a little more urgently.

"We can't just leave these people! We have to help them!" She argued, barely trying to keep her voice down now. A clock somewhere in my head told me we only had ten minutes before the patrol arrived.

"Sounds good to me." Aang nodded, always as eager to please as a polar bear-dog. "What do you say Sukka?"

"I say you're both nuts!" But I relent. "Come on, we need to find some place to hide!" I lead them over to the supply crates I'd noticed in the air.

"We can't stick around for long, what exactly are we supposed to do?" I demand from them.

"I wish I knew how to make a hurricane." I think Katara and I had perfectly identical looks just then. "The warden would run away and we'd steal his keys!"

"Aang, if a hurricane is anything like a blizzard, I want absolutely no part in it." I state once and for all, killing that idea and giving it the burial it deserved.

"What's a blizzard like?" I don't deign to answer that with a response.

"We need to help these people help themselves." Katara added unhelpfully.

"For that, dear sister, they need something to fight with. I don't suppose these crates have dirt in them, do you?" She gives me a look that tells me she doesn't appreciate my sassiness. Well too bad for her, I don't want to be here and so I will sass. I _could_ be sleeping right now, enjoying the regular schedule I can get here, but instead I'm helping to bust a bunch of earthbenders out of prison.

"Not in the crates, in the _silo!_" Aang gasps, pointing at one of the huge belching chimneys. "I bet they're burning coal, in other words, Earth."

It takes some planning, and I'm rather proud of myself when I find the vents that give me the idea. Aang goes in and reports that there are four vents in the silo, he closes all but one. That leaves the coal to escape to the vent Katara and I wait behind. We have to time it for as near to dawn as possible so the earthbenders will be awake.

"There's the intruder!" Unfortunately near dawn also means the firebenders are starting to wake up. A huge crowd of the prisoners and the guards form around us. I get my first good look of the people we're saving.

Most of them look like they could stand to have a few banquets in Omashu. I'd swear they couldn't _all_ be old, but most of them have grey hair to some degree. This place has aged them, only Haru looks his age.

"Katara, stop this!" One old guy with an impressive beard pleads.

"Listen to him little girl," I zero in on the new speaker. He's got this slimy feel to him, the kind you get when working with animal fat to make soap. It stinks, you don't want to go near it with a ten foot pole, and it has this nasty way of lingering around you till you think you'll never be free of the stench.

"You're one mistake from dying where you stand." He threatens my sister as easily as breathing. _In for five, hold for two, out for five._

The ground starts shaking and Katara and I have to jump away from the vent to keep from being buried in the small mountain of coal. Aang comes flying out after it, stained black as my hair and coughing up this disgusting black gunk.

"Earthbenders, here's your chance! Take it!" Katara urges them, showing them the coal we'd worked so hard to get for them. And I can already tell it isn't going to be enough.

"You poor fool, their spirits were broken long ago!" The warden taunts her, my brave baby sister. The warden's cocky, believes everything's been handled so why should he stick around. He turns around to leave.

The coal strikes his head only a second before my boomerang does.

"Show no mercy!" He commands. The blast is blocked by a strong wall of coal. The fight is on.

It reminds me a bit of the last raid, the worst raid. There's a melee going on, people are crying out in pain and being silenced just as quickly. There's this scary moment after I first start bending when I think the earthbenders are going to attack _me_ too, but it passes when I take down one of the men.

And while I'm fighting, it's like this fire just bloomed in my mind. Don't twist like _that_, turn and _pivot_ and then _kick!_ Katara pulls water over the side, freezing the feet of unwary soldiers, Aang forces them back with gale force blasts.

When it's over we load everyone onto the ships. Katara and Aang are exhausted, the adrenalin is wearing off. Neither of them are used to pulling all-nighters like me. The earthbenders have hope again of a better future, and they go off to rescue their villages. I take Appa's reins and direct us back to dry land.

"We did a good thing today." Katara yawned, Aang's already out cold beside her.

"I guess we did." I allow, directing her to lay down. She freezes though, staring at me. "Katara?"

"Mother's necklace!" My pulse races and I reach for my neck. There's nothing there. For the first time since I was eight, there's _nothing there._

My neck feels a whole lot colder.


	8. Flying Embers

Summary: Kya was only recently married to Hakoda when a Fire Nation raid caught her alone, gathering what few plants grew in the icy tundra for the winter ahead. Under usual circumstances she would've at least had the company of the other village women, but it was so close to the Sunless winter that no one thought the Fire Nation would dare strike.

Nine months later she sobbed as her daughter was welcomed into the world by breathing flames.

Disclaimer: Ownage of Avatar? Unlikely.

Chapter 8: Flying Embers.

How could I lose my mother's _necklace?_ It's _only_ my single most important…_thing_ in the world! I've _never_ taken it off before! Not in all these years! How. Did I lose. My mother's. NECKLACE!

I am the worst water tribe warrior in the history of warriors. I lost a gift left behind by a departed loved one. They should cast me out into the wilderness until I'm almost frozen solid to punish me.

I feel terrible. There is no way of dressing that up or smoothing out the edges. I lost my mother's necklace, there can be no sugar coating that. I bet if Katara had been the one to inherit it she would've _never_ just _lost_ it like me.

_What am I going to tell Dad?_

I only barely stop myself from sighing again. We're flying over some nice cloud cover. Aang's driving and Katara's just staring out into space, maybe she's thinking about what a stupid sister she has. I sigh in my head and start smoothing out the hunk of wood I had picked up from the camp when we left. I was slowly using little bits of flame to chip off uneven pieces and smooth it out. I wasn't trying to carve out any particular shape, it just felt nice to burn something every once in a while.

I love my mother's necklace. This time I really do sigh. I can't really remember what she looked like anymore, so when I want to picture her I look at Katara and try aging her up about twenty years.

"Don't those clouds look so soft?" She sighed, drawing my attention. "Like you could fall right in and land on a fluffy cushion."

"Or plummet to your death." I have to admit I sound a little bit nervous. My sister is kind of crazy, if I in any way encourage this she might be tempted to try it.

"I'll try it!" And there goes the air-headed twit. I slap my face with the palm of my hand when he starts free falling into the sky. Maybe _this_ is why there aren't any airbenders running around anymore! They all died because they did stupid crazy things like jumping off flying bison.

"Turns out clouds are made of water." _I_ nearly fall of the bison when he reappears on the other side, soaked but noticeably un-splattered.

"You enjoy giving me heart failure, don't you?" I asked suspiciously. He has the decency to look a little embarrassed after blow drying himself with some bending.

"Hey, what's that?" Katara asks, pointing to something ahead of us.

"Katara, I swear if this is another crazy idea that somehow winds up with me having a heart attack, I am _going_ to gag—!" I break off with a gasp, finally seeing what she was pointing at.

"It's like a scar." I mumble in shock. The first thing that pops into my head is Zuko's face, with the scar like a comet across the left side. Both are just as ugly in my opinion.

We land directly in the middle of a burned out forest. I've never seen anything like this, and the lingering stench of wood smoke makes my throat clog up. I drop the bit of wood I'd been burning and it blends in perfectly with the ground and the half-standing burned out stumps littered everywhere.

"Aang?" I don't hear Katara. I kneel down on one knee, inspecting the foot prints left in the ashes.

"_Fire Nation!_" It rips from my mouth like a curse. "Those blood-thirsty _monsters!_ They have _no _respect—!"

"Sukka!" Katara scolds me, startling me out of my rant.

"What, I can't get angry?" I growl half-heartedly. She wordlessly looks at Aang. Oh, yeah I probably wasn't helping there, was I?

"Who could do this? How could I let this happen?" He asked, taking a handful of ashes into his hand and watching them blow away again.

"Aang, it wasn't your fault." My sister reassures him.

"Yes, _it is!_" He argues, sounding more heartbroken than anything. "I'm the Avatar, and the Avatar is supposed to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole, to find you a teacher." She tries to remind him.

"A _waterbending_ teacher." He reminds her, and I have to admit he's got a point. "There isn't anyone alive who can teach me how to be the Avatar."

"I don't think that's something you can teach." I share. He looks up at me, surprised. "Our dad said once that being a leader isn't something you teach, it's something you learn. No one can really tell you how to be the Avatar, just like no one can tell you how to be a great leader. It's just something you learn by experience."

"Monk Gyatso told me that _Roku_ would help me." He argued again, less fierce and more heart ache though.

"A dead guy." I say with a total lack of emotion. "A dead guy who's been dead for what, a hundred and twelve years?"

That seemed to kill every last drop of goodness in the day. I groaned quietly to myself, wishing there was a way to find those words wherever they hung in the air and burn them until only the ashes remained. Can I just _not_ hurt someone for one day, please?

"Hey Aang, ready to be cheered up?" THUNK! Did she just?

"OW! What was that for?" Yeah, she did.

"Well, I have to admit it's more effective than the time you dumped me in frigid water on my tenth birthday." I was sick for a week after that. In comparison at least the acorn related pain faded quickly, where pneumonia lingered something awful.

I was totally expecting the little nut that beamed me right between the eyes right after. Didn't make it hurt any less, but at least I can honestly say I was expecting it.

She goes on to explain that all these little acorns would be mighty oaks someday and I just sort of sat there, rubbing the bruise forming between my eyes. I remember the promise I made on Zuko's ship to someday think before speaking. It seems that day is still a long way's off. I don't think I've made _any_ progress on that front.

The old man provided me with a good reason to break up the sappy moment the two were having, thankfully. I'd begun to lose patience with the way they were staring into each other's eyes and smiling. How _dare_ a boy see my sister as anything other than a supremely good cooker of meat?

"Who are you?" I demanded, standing up and placing myself subtly between him and my sister and her friend.

"I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that bison, flying so brazenly in the sky, but those markings prove it." I can't believe it. We've actually met someone old enough to remember what air nomads look like. Darn it, please spirits don't let him be as insane as Bumi.

"Are you the Avatar, child?" I silently glare at my baby sister for encouraging Aang to reveal his identity. We do _not_ need people knowing who Aang is!

"Please, my village is in desperate need of your help." I nearly groan again as we start following him back to his village. I knew I shouldn't have crawled out of my sleeping bag today. Why didn't I try to sleep in for once?

Their village looked like it had just suffered through a raid. Nothing really looked _burned_ but some houses had collapsed and a few of them only had the bare frame still standing. Even though there was still a couple hours until sunset by time we walked there no one was outside. I felt the sun on the back of my neck as we approached the mansion where all the villagers had gathered.

In for five, hold for two, out for five. I did not like the feeling I was getting from here, I didn't like it one bit. People here were afraid. If I had to guess I'd say that forest had burned down recently, the ash was still too sandy and hadn't been pounded back into the dirt yet like it would in the rain. Maybe they were afraid the Fire Nation soldiers were still lingering around, though who knows what they'd hope to gain from terrorizing a little village like this.

Maybe the same reason they seemed to get a kick out of raiding us when we hadn't had a waterbender in fifty years before Katara.

Here's hoping they only saw the armor and don't know what Fire Nation people actually look like. I thought as we were allowed into the huge building. It was even bigger than the one on Kyoshi Island, but there was less furniture and more frightened people.

"This young man is the Avatar." The old man announced to a younger man. His son maybe, they both had the same nose and wrinkles around their mouths from frowning too much.

"We are honored. It is good to see the rumors of your return are true." He said humbly, giving a small bow of respect to my sister's little airheaded twit.

"It's nice to meet you too!" He replied cheerfully. There was a moment of silence as he seemed to search for something more to say. Both the old man and the man-I-was-eighty-percent-sure-was-his-son seemed content to stand around in silence for the next few hours.

"Sooo….is there anything I can help you with?" Aang asked, drawing it out.

"I'm not sure." The younger man said hesitantly.

"That young man is the Avatar, and an air nomad, he is the _only_ one who can help!" The old man argued, raising his voice. Way to put pressure on the little guy's shoulder. I frowned deeper and sighed, counting another breath out before I trusted myself to speak without setting something on fire.

"For the past few nights we have been attacked by Hei Bei, the Black and White spirit." The old man informed us the same way Gran-gran would tell ghost stories in the igloo. Not that I _officially_ heard any of these stories, mind you.

"You're being attacked by a spirit? Why?" I questioned. Well, I reasoned, if Avatars can magically survive in ice bergs for a hundred years I guess spirits can run amok and attack villages. Why should _this_ part of my life make any sense? Nothing else about it does!

"We don't know why, but every night after sunset it leaves taking some of our own with it." And there I saw the same hopeless look the village elders sometimes got thinking about raids in the past, and all those people we couldn't save. Like my father he was a leader and he felt each loss in his heart of hearts.

"And with the solstice drawing near, there is no telling what will happen." I knew what the solstice was. This one was the winter solstice. Back in the South Pole it marked the end of me being awake for days on end, changing it to being _unable_ to wake up. I always hated that slightly more than the summer months. It's easy to make a tea to fall asleep, but Gran-gran and I had never come across a brew that woke me up when the Sun never rose. After the solstice days in the poles would get even for a while, then night would overtake day until the turn of the seasons in the spring.

"What happens to you then?" Katara knew as well as I what the solstice time meant for fire benders in the south, we had a hard time imagining something like that happening this far north.

"The solstice is the time when the natural world and the spirit world are closest together. Hei Bei is already strong enough to cause us much damage, who knows what could happen when the solstice hits." The old man moaned, shivering slightly.

"So how am I supposed to help?" Aang asked, obviously as confused as my sister and me.

"You are the Avatar, the bridge between this world and the spirit world. I'm certain if anyone can that _you_ will be able to find a way." The old man reassured him. It would've been a lot more comforting if Aang hadn't been all of twelve years old. Why did people keep insisting Aang had to go it alone anyway? Katara and I can stand beside him through the worst of it without a problem.

Okay, there might not be much in the way of comparison between fire nation soldiers and spirit monsters, but in this instance I was of the firm opinion that we couldn't make things worse.

"Hey great bridge guy, can I talk to you for a second?" Katara drew us away from the old man and his son, over to a window where the sun filtered through and we could see the entrance to the village. I drew in the rays gratefully, there was just nothing like the sun to set me at ease.

"Aang, you don't sound too sure about this." She pointed out as soon as she thought it was safe.

"That could be because I know absolutely nothing about spirits _or_ the spirit world!" He sounded remarkably calm for a guy with an entire village riding on him succeeding.

Katara shot me a look, clear as day. _Say something encouraging!_ I gave her back a look of my own. _Um, hello? Hi, I'm Sukka, the sarcastic and meat-loving, firebending, Water Tribe warrior, have we met before?_ Her look turned fierce, sort of like our polar-bear dog when he caught the scent of something edible. _Help now or forever hold your tongue._

"It's not like there's anyone who can really teach me!" He continued, unaware of our silent conversation.

"I'm sure you'll think of something Aang." My little sister soothed his ruffled feathers.

"We're all going to be eaten by a spirit monster, aren't we?" I groaned quietly.

Aang was sent outside, and the red, ornate doors were closed behind him. Katara and I commandeered the best window to watch the action, anxious for the little Avatar. The mouth of the village faced the west, towards the setting sun. I felt the flickering of my inner fire as it quivered, when the sun set entirely it would steady itself out, weaker than during the day but stronger than in the middle of a polar winter.

"This isn't right, sending out one goofy kid to face down some giant spirit monster." I grumble to hide my unease.

"If anyone can discern the reason for Hei Bei's hostility, it is the young Avatar." The old man counseled. Yeah, right, that's just fancy talk for _better him than me!_

"I still don't like it, it feels cowardly." I growl, quieter this time. Katara puts an ungloved hand on my shoulder, wordlessly easing me. _In for five, hold for two, out for five._ I open my eyes again to a truly horrific sight.

The only thing I could think of to compare it to was a time when I was eight, just before Mom died. Some of the older boys came back from fishing with a tale of how rhino-sharks had stalked their small fleet until they'd gotten to the berg fields. Rhino-sharks will sometimes pick off lone fishing vessels, another reason I usually fished alone, but unlike other sharks they've also been known to hunt in schools. When they did so they would stalk their prey for days on end.

Aang was being stalked by a giant black and white monster with four arms and some very sharp teeth.

"Turn _around_ you airheaded twit!" I screamed at him. I don't even know if he heard me but he did finally notice the giant creature stalking him. It wasn't natural that something so large could travel so silently.

And it was _fast._ There was only a black and white blur when it moved, trashing some building and a water tower. It was big enough that I'd only be a well-sized bite. And if I was bite-sized, then Aang may as well have been a crumb.

"The Avatar's methods are unusual." The son, who I assume is the headman, commented. I bit my tongue to keep from saying something particularly scathing. Something along the lines of words Bato once said in my presence that Dad promised to wash my mouth of with soap for if I ever repeated them.

"Okay, that's it. I've had enough _fun_ watching a twelve year old get creamed!" I snapped when Aang got backhanded into another building.

"Sukka!" Katara cried after me as I raced out the doors. I heard the old man stop her from following me, and felt a distant relief. I didn't want Katara facing this thing. _I_ didn't want to face this thing.

"Hey, Hei Bei, lay off the airbender!" I shouted, tossing my boomerang with all my strength. It did nothing, barely even fazed the monster despite bouncing off his butt. I drew my club and darted over to Aang, pushing him down to avoid another swipe.

"Sukka, what are you _doing_?" He demanded, sounding a little bit panicked.

"I'm not leaving you out here to get smushed." I declared. I would've said more but I had to push him away when I saw Hei Bei make another open hand swipe. I grunted as the air was forced from my lungs as he picked me up and started running.

Hei Bei was fast, faster than anything I'd ever experienced before and never want to experience again. I dropped my club somewhere, and got one arm free. Aang caught up to us, reached out his hand from his glider. I clasped it in my own, for once in my life too afraid to say anything at all.

He slipped right through my fingers.


End file.
